Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix
by Elizabeth Kelly
Summary: [HPGW], [JPLE], [RLNT] & [RWHG] The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have... until now. Post HBP WIP
1. Chapter 1

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

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**Chapter One**

The sun had once again set over the perfectly normal houses of Privet Drive, yet the sweltering heat lingered in the air. An unusual hush seemed to have descended over the street. Residents mostly stayed inside, more often than not in a hopeless attempt to avoid the stifling heat. The residents of Number Four Privet Drive, were no different. They were sitting in the lounge room watching television and squished onto one sofa in order to feel some relief from the solitary fan that occasionally sent a warm breeze their way.

There was one occupant of Number Four, however, that was not downstairs. Instead he lay, sleeping on the bed, stripped down to a light t-shirt and a pair of oversized boxer shorts. Glasses hanging off one ear, the deep bags under his eyes indicating a severe lack of sleep. In fact he had very little in the month and a half since school ended. Books littered the floor of the small bedroom. '_Advance Incantations for Defensive Measures'_, '_Self Trained, Self Taught, Self-Defence'_, '_Curses: Casting and Blocking'_, '_Horrible Hexes', 'Mind for Meditation'_ and '_Animagi for Beginners'_ were just a few of the titles that lay amongst his school books.

Soft snores were the only sound that could be heard in the usually quiet room. The windows had been left open, partly to let in the odd cool breeze, but mostly for the benefit of the only other occupant in the room. She sat quietly as her master slept, keeping a watchful eye over everything.

The doorbell sounded downstairs, and the muffled sound of a frustrated cry wafted through the gap under the door. The occupant of the bed didn't stir. More voices this time, and then…

"BOY! Get down here this instant!" Still the boy on the bed did not stir. After a minute, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs, then the turning ofa handle.

The door swung open to reveal three figures, the largest one barring the other two, a middle aged man and woman, entrance to the room. Seeing that the boy sill hadn't moved, the larger man let out a frustrated sigh.

"He's your problem now," he hissed, turning and heading back down the stairs. The other man raced forward.

"Harry," he called softly, reaching out and gently shaking the boy's shoulder. Still the boy didn't move.

"Remus, is he ok?" the woman began, her voice shaky. "Is he alive?" Remus bent down, to look at the boy.

"He's still breathing, but he's as frail as I've ever seen him." The woman cast an eye around the room.

"It looks about the same as it was the last time I was here," she observed. Remus too looked down at the books that covered the floor.

"Oh, Harry," he muttered. "We need to wake him, come on help me sit him up."

Together they helped him sit up, and he immediately fell sideways so that his head was resting on Remus's chest.

"Harry," Remus called softly, lightly tapping his cheeks. "Come on Harry, don't make me wake you with cold water." The threat seemed to have some sort of an effect, as Harry began to stir in his pseudo-uncle's arms.

"P-p-professor?" he asked, his voice hushed with sleep.

"Yes, Harry, but I thought we agreed you would call me Remus or Lupin?" Remus smiled softly, but Harry's lips didn't even twitch. His eyes opened slowly, blinking, trying to focus. Remus helped him put his glasses on, and Harry's gaze fell on the middle aged woman standing on the other side of him. Something about her seemed familiar, yet he couldn't seem to place her.

"Wotcher, Harry," she said with a wink, as he looked at her with dawning recognition.

"Hey Tonks," he replied, sleepily. With her shoulder length dark brown hair, mature features, hazel eyes and conservative dress, there was very little that resembled the typically extroverted, fluorescent pink haired witch. All except the mischievous grin that she unsuccessfully tried to hold in.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, his already overworked brain, trying to understand why they were standing in his room.

"We've come to take you home, Harry," Remus replied.

"But my birthday's not for another two days," he said "I have to stay here for my protection." he replied, not sure if he wanted to know what home Remus was referring to.

"We know, but the Order believes that you are in more danger here, so we have to move you," Tonks explained, packing his books into his trunk.

"But Dum…" a lump caught in his throat, it was too soon after his mentor's death.

"We know what he said Harry, but if he were here now, he would be doing what we are doing." Harry numbly nodded, and stared off into the distance.

"Done!" Tonks said, and Harry jumped as though he only just realised she was there.

"Sorry, Tonks I should've helped," Harry realised that she had done all of his packing for him.

"Nah, Harry it's ok. To be honest you look kind of dead on your feet," she joked, then upon realising what she said she covered her mouth. Remus's eyes were wide, and Harry looked as though he was fighting back tears.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. I-I-I didn't know what I was saying. You know me, always putting my foot in it…"

"Don't worry about it," Harry cut her off. She was about to continue, when a look from Remus stopped her.

"Come on, Harry, we've already stayed here too long."

Harry moved to stand on his feet but swayed and fell back onto the bed. Remus placed an arm around Harry's waist and pulled him up, letting Harry lean on him. Lupin was shocked at just how skinny the boy wizard was. He could feel Harry's ribs through the thin t-shirt he wore. Tonks handed Remus a pair of trousers that she had kept out of the trunk, and took a hold of a barely conscious Harry as Remus helped him into them.

"There you go Harry, couldn't have you walking around in your underwear," Remus said lightly. He took Harry back from Tonks and helped him walk out of the room. Tonks watched them leave, then walked over to the desk.

"Hey, Hedwig," she said softly, stroking the birds feathers. "Can you go to 'The Burrow'? Harry will be there as soon as it is safe enough. We'll look after him I promise." Hedwig nipped her finger affectionately as if to say she understood, and took off out the window. Pointing her wand at Harry's trunk and Hedwig's empty cage, Tonks shrunk them and placed them in her pocket. She took one more sweeping glance around the room to see if anything was left behind, and then turned leaving the small bedroom and followed Remus and Harry.

They landed on the ground out the front of a large manor. Harry didn't recognise the building in front of him, but at least it wasn't Grimmuld Place, that was a start.

"Sorry, about that Harry, but apparation was quicker and faster and safer then any of the other methods of travel." Harry nodded in understanding, and allowed himself to be led into the unfamiliar house.

The manor was dark and silent when they entered. Lupin lit the torches lining the walls, and Harry closed his eyes at the sudden brightness.

"Would you like something to eat?" Lupin asked him, as Tonks returned the trunk and bird cage to their normal size. Harry shook his head, as his eyes drooped closed. Tonks glanced at Lupin and saw the worry in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Come on, Harry, you need to eat something. When was the last time you ate?" Tonks asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Right, Lupin you take him to bed. I'll go make him some soup." Lupin nodded relieved that she was taking charge, he was finding it hard to see Harry in his current state, and his loathing for the muggles that were Harry's so-called relatives, deepened.

Half carrying, half dragging Harry, Lupin somehow managed to get him up the stairs and into bed. Tonks came in not long after, and set a bowl of soup on the bedside table. Harry was propped up against some pillows, and struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Harry... how often have you been sleeping?" Tonks asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders, and Lupin glared at him.

"Less than an hour a night," he admitted, sleepily. Tonks made a noise that sounded a bit like a strangled cat. Lupin patted her shoulder gently.

"Well, Harry, eat up, then sleep as long as you like." Lupin smiled at Harry, then led Tonks out of the room.

Harry picked up the spoon and forced himself to eat most of the soup. 'Hopefully that will satisfy Lupin,' he thought. Lying down, he lost the ability to keep his eyes open and soon enough he dropped into a deep sleep.

"I don't think he will sleep long. I think he's having nightmares again," Lupin said, collapsing into the hard wooden kitchen chairs.

"I think he will sleep for a while," Tonks replied, her mischievous smile spreading across her face.

"What did you do?" Lupin asked, his curiosity, peaking.

"I slipped in some of the dreamless sleep potion Severus made for me last year. I figured that he needed a decent sleep." Lupin smiled softly.

"I dare say he did."

"You know he blames himself for Dumbledore's death?" Lupin nodded.

"I know, I just don't know what to tell him. The only people who were there were Harry, Dumbledore, Severus and several death eaters. No one else knows what went on, and Harry's not going to want to talk about it," Lupin paused. "He's so much like James in that way. James used to keep everything that hurt him bottled up and then he would explode. Not literally of course," he added seeing the worried look on Tonks face. "He would just yell and yell and yell. Sirius, Peter and I usually copped the full brunt of his anger, even if it wasn't directed at us."

"You can't blame Harry for what he is doing, I mean everyone that gets close to him dies, first his parents, then Sirius, then Dumbledore. It's no wonder he broke up with Ginny."

"He broke up with Ginny?" Lupin asked.

"Yep," Tonks nodded. "She's locked herself in her room for most of the summer. She barely eats, rarely comes downstairs and when she does it's obvious she's been crying. I tried to talk to her, but it didn't work. From the little that I did get out of her, I think Harry told her it was too dangerous for her to be with him. The poor kid thinks he can't get close to anyone."

"Maybe he can't," Lupin whispered.

"What kind of life is that? He's just a boy, he should be dating a new girl every month, he should be playing pranks on people, he should be free to do whatever he likes. I couldn't image being seventeen and having the weight of the world on my shoulders. When I was his age my biggest concern was passing my Transfiguration N.E.W.T. and deciding what colour my hair should be." Tonks started to cry. Lupin pulled her into a hug, and she buried her face into his neck. "It's not fair on him. He's just a kid. He shouldn't have to deal with this burden." Lupin rubbed his hand over her back, in a gentle, soothing motion.

"I know, Tonks, I know. But unfortunately that was the destiny Harry was dealt, and the best thing you and I can do is help him as much as we can, and try to ease some of his burden." Tonks sniffled, and nodded, slowly.

"You're right, as always," she whispered.

"Come on, I think we both need some rest. It's time for bed." Carefully he stood up and carried her up the stairs to her room. Placing her gently back down on the ground, she turned to face him.

"Thanks," she smiled shyly.

"Your welcome," he replied gently. Then, whilst she still had the courage, Tonks quickly lent in and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Goodnight, Remus," she said, as she turned and entered her room, quickly closing the door behind her. Lupin touched his lips, his mind, completely blank. After a minute or two, he regained his senses.

"Goodnight, Nymphadora," he whispered to the closed door, before turning and heading to his own room for the night.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter may be a little while with exams coming up. But I promise I will not abandon this fic. 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG (K+)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

A crash, followed by a long string of curse words, woke Harry up with a fright. Someone had broken into the Dursley's. Reaching for his glasses on his bedside table, he put them on and looked towards the door, or rather where the door should have been. Glancing around the room he panicked for a moment not knowing where he was. A chuckle from a portrait in the corner of the room brought back a sudden rush of memories. Privet Drive, Remus, Tonks, a mysterious house. Harry turned to face the portrait of an elderly wizard, whose glasses sat askew on his nose.

"Hello?" Harry said to the portrait.

"Well, good morning Mr Potter," the portrait replied.

"I don't mean to be rude, but how do you know my name?" Judging by the look of the portrait it was a least thirty years old and looked vaguely familiar. The portrait smiled at him, his eyes twinkling.

"Ah, my brother is very fond of you, and speaks of you highly," the portrait responded.

"Who is your brother?" Harry asked curiously.

"Why Albus, of course," the portrait replied looking a little surprised. Harry froze in shock.

"Where am I?" he finally managed.

"Didn't they tell you? Oh, dear. This is the house that Albus and I grew up in."

"I'm in Dumbledore's house?" he asked slowly, and the portrait nodded.

Harry felt like laying back down and crawling under the covers and going back to sleep, but he forced himself to do the opposite. Pulling back the covers, he slowly got out of bed, swaying on his feet. He gripped the bed post to steadied himself. Once the dizziness passed, he reached into his trunk and pulled out some clothes, and hastily pulled them on. Slowly he made his way down the stairs, listening to the loud voice that floated up the stairwell.

"Messer's Weasley and Weasley, what in Merlin's name do you thing you are doing?" Harry heard a muffled reply.

"I do not give a flying hippogriff if you think it will cheer him up or not. You are of age, and a member of the most important organisation in this war. Playing practical jokes is not in our constitution. Look it up. I want you to get rid of it right now," the angry voice of Professor McGonagall reached his ears, and from the sounds of it Harry was very pleased that he wasn't in, what he assumed to be, the twins shoes. One of them muttered a quiet reply that Harry, no matter how hard he strained his ears, could not hear. It quickly became apparent that the professor was not happy with his reply when her voice once again filled the hallway.

Eventually it died down and the sound of McGonagall walking away prompted Harry to walk down the stairs.

"Hey Guys," Harry greeted them. Both of them jumped and turned to face Harry.

"Ah, hello, Harry," Fred said brightly, glancing over Harry's shoulder. Harry turned around, following his gaze. There was nothing there.

"Hiya, Harry," George greeted, also looking over Harry's shoulder.

"Ah, Guys? What are you looking at?" their eyes, glanced at Harry.

"Nothing," George said with a wave of his hand.

"Just wondering why…" Fred was cut off by a piercing shriek. Harry turned around and glanced up the stairs from which he had just come down. Thousands of pink, purple, green and blue bubbles were falling from a puffy white cloud, each one squealing when it burst. Harry covered his ears to block out the sound. McGonagall's frustrated cries could be heard from the floor below.

"Silencio," George muttered, waving his wand, and the bubbles stopped shrieking.

"Sorry about that Harry, didn't quiet go to plan. We've been working on a new party line, the bubbles were supposed to be singing, while the suits of armour were going to be the accompaniment."

"At least there would have been a band of suits of armour, but we are still working on some balance issues," Fred explained pointing to the pile of toppled suits of armour lying on the floor. Harry smirked at the twins, who smiled seeing that they had improved Harry's mood.

Professor McGonagall came striding down the hall, muttering to herself. Glancing up, she saw Harry standing there.

"Po… er… Harry, you're awake." Harry nodded.

"Hello Professor," he said quietly.

"Fred, George, I want you to remove those things right this instant, then get back on duty, you were supposed to replace Nibbs ten minutes ago." They rolled their eyes and with a flick of their wands and a small wave to Harry, disapperated.

Once they had gone, McGonagall turned to Harry.

"Come along Harry, you must be hungry. I am not as great a cook as Molly, but I believe I make a mean lot of scrambled eggs," she smiled uncharacteristically at him.

"Thanks, professor, but I'm not really hungry."

"That one's not going to work with me Mr Potter. You are as skinny as a broomstick and Molly will hex me if I don't feed you properly," Harry stared at his professor. "Remus and Nymphadora both wanted to be here when you woke up, but unfortunately they were called away this morning. They asked if I would be here, when you woke up." Professor McGonagall, headed down the hallway, towards the kitchen.

Harry simply stood there and stared. Professor McGonagall was making him eggs for breakfast. He repeated that line to himself over and over again, yet it still didn't seem to make any sense. Realising he had been standing in the hallway for a couple of minutes now, he hurried off following McGonagall, hoping he hadn't become lost in the twists and turns that made up this labyrinth of a manor.

Entering the kitchen, he found McGonagall standing over the stove, cracking eggs into a fry pan.

"Ah, there you are Harry. Do you mind making the toast for me?" Harry numbly nodded, reaching for two pieces of bread that looked, and smelt, fresh. He watched as she prepared their eggs, wooden spoon in one hand, her wand out of sight.

"Why aren't you using magic?" Harry asked, curiously.

"Takes the taste out of the eggs in my opinion, Scrambled eggs muggle-style is far tastier," she replied, her straight mouth, twitching. Harry, seemingly satisfied for the time being, turned his attention back to the toast.

Minutes later, they were sitting down at the table eating 'McGonagall's Muggle Eggs', or so she had named them. He couldn't help but stare at her. This was not the professor he knew.

"Do I have egg on my face?" she asked politely, Harry jumped slightly at being addressed.

"No, it's just…" he trailed off.

"It's just what?" she prodded. Harry swallowed a forkful of eggs, before answering.

"Who are you and what have you done with Professor McGonagall?" he asked. She chuckled.

"I'm not always a professor Harry. Sometimes I'm just Minerva McGonagall, who happens to teach magic to a bunch of hormonal teenagers. You see, different teachers believe that different styles of teaching are better. Firm and strict is the best way, I believe, to teach students. Teachers like Remus however, prefer the caring, nurturing approach, which is fine. It means the students get a taste of different styles. But when the holidays come round I'm no longer Professor, instead I'm Minerva." Harry nodded, it seemed logical, still this new side to the professor would take some getting used to.

"How do you like the eggs, Harry?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.

"They're great," he replied, shovelling the last forkful into his mouth.

"I must say it is good to see you eating something, you look like you haven't eaten in days!" Harry guiltily looked down at his lap.

"I haven't," he confessed. McGonagall stared at him.

"I knew those muggles were no good for you! Probably fed all your food to their pig of a son. I told Albus they were no good, but he insisted. All day I watched them. The baby was kicking and screaming, yelling for sweets. He would have been barely more than eighteen months old. Sweets are not appropriate for a child of that age…"

"You've seen the Dursely's?" Harry cut her off, his curiosity peaking. Had McGonagall been one of his guards last summer?

"Oh, yes I saw them. Knew right away they were no good. You see Harry, I was there the night Albus left you with those rotten people. I didn't want to believe the stories, and Hagrid had told me that Albus was taking you to your relatives, so I had to see for myself. I sat on the brick wall, outside the front of the house all day watching them,"

"And they didn't call the police?" Harry asked amazed.

"I was a cat, Harry," she reminded him of her animagus transformations.

"Oh, right," he replied, slightly embarrassed.

"You were so small, and quiet. So…" she paused thinking of the right word. "Innocent," she continued, Harry shifted uncomfortably on his seat. This different side to his professor unnerved him a little. "Anyway, enough of that," she said shaking her head.

"I believe that we need to have a talk." Harry watched as she flicked her wand and their empty plates soared over to the sink and began to wash themselves.

"I suppose you are wondering where we are."

"No," Harry said cutting her off.

"You know where we are?" McGonagall asked curiously.

"Professor Dumbledore's brother told me."

"Dumbledore's brother? Aberforth? I thought he was dead?"

"He is," Harry explained. "But there's a portrait of him in the room I stayed in." McGonagall nodded in understanding.

"Very well then you know that we are using the Headmaster's… I mean Professor Dumbledore's home as the new headquarters. We moved not long after Mundungus was arrested. It was a good thing too, because, as secret keeper of number 12 Grimmuld place, upon Albus's death, the house would no longer be safe, besides who knows what information Mundungus would give the other side in return for his life."

"But wouldn't Dumbledore have been the secret keeper for the new headquarters?" Harry asked.

"No Harry that is something else we need to talk about. Since the beginning of the last school year, Albus had known of his fate. It appears Professor Trelawny had a vision, and Albus insisted on believing her," Harry could hear the distrust in her voice. "But I suppose she had been right all along. Probably the only real prediction she's ever made." Harry kept his mouth shut, he knew that she had made at least three. "Anyway, Albus spent the entire year getting his affairs in order. Why do you think he had those private lessons with you this year?" Harry shrugged. "Professor Dumbledore would have wanted me to tell you this, and I want you to wait until I am finished speaking before you make a comment." Harry nodded in silent anticipation.

"Harry, Professor Snape is still working as a double agent for the Order." Harry made a motion to speak, but McGonagall held up her hand.

"Wait, Harry. Albus made it clear to Severus that if he was ever put in the position where his spy-status was in jeopardy, that he would do anything short of killing you to protect his position. Albus made Severus take an unbreakable vow to do as such. You see Harry, in the end Professor Dumbledore knew he wasn't worth as much as you or the information that Severus could bring to the order, and so he sacrificed himself. Professor Snape was simply fulfilling Professor Dumbledore's orders."

"But he begged for his life!" Harry exclaimed "I heard him I was there."

"What exactly did you hear?"

"He kept saying 'please. 'Please Severus, please', Snape just stood there and listened to him begging for his life!"

"You don't think he meant 'Please Severus, remember your vow', while Severus stood there struggling with the choice he was faced with." Harry sat there mouth agape. "I know that you and the potions master have never seen eye to eye, but Professor Dumbledore trusted him, isn't that enough?" Harry remained still, unable to think of anything to say.

He seemed to be having mixed emotions. A part of him felt relief for knowing the truth, another part still remained angry at Snape for killing his mentor. Unsure of just how he should be feeling, Harry, instead, opted to remain silent.

"Professor Dumbledore left this letter that he wanted to be given to you after his death." Harry took the letter that McGonagall had produced somewhere from within the folds of her cloak. "Open it," she prompted him.

With a shaky hand Harry opened the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_I start by apologising, I really wish I could have fought by your side until the very end, but fate had other plans for me. I have watched you mature and grow from a tiny, helpless infant into the courageous and loyal young Gryffindor you are now. Knowing you as I like to think I do, __then you have decided not to return to Hogwarts this year and that is understandable. However, I made a promise to your parents that I intend to keep, so I made some arrangements that will allow for you to complete your education, and perhaps give you that which you have been missing your entire life. _

_Remember, Harry, that death is but the next great adventure, and wherever I go, I want you to know that I will be having a grand time. (Hopefully, wherever I am there will beplenty of socks!). I also want you to know that I will never truly leave you. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of teaching you over the last six years, and I want you to know that I am so very proud of you. Best wishes with your journey in life and remember that it's your ability to love that sets you apart. _

_Your Humble Servant, _

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry tried to stop the flood of tears that had been building up inside, but in the end he couldn't contain them. Furiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he tried, unsuccessfully, to stem the flow. First his mother and father, then his godfather, now his mentor; Harry had this overwhelming urge to shove Lupin into a locked room and not let him out until the war was over. Professor McGonagall stood up and moved to sit in the chair beside Harry. Awkwardly she placed her arm around his shoulders and pulled him in for a tense hug.

It was a number of minutes before Harry had regained control of his feelings, and pulled away from McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor," he said, his cheeks turning pink.

"It's alright Harry, I understand."

They sat quietly for a few more minutes, before Harry broke the silence.

"Do you know about the arrangements Professor Dumbledore made for me to complete my seventh year?" Harry asked. Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Yes, you will find out in just over a month's time," she said. "And that's all you need to know for the moment," she added, anticipating Harry's question.

The sound of footsteps in the hall alerted the kitchen's occupants of some newcomers and Harry wiped the remaining tear tracks away with his sleeve. A couple of moments later Lupin and Tonks walked in, both looking thoroughly exhausted, Tonks' shoulder length hair now a fiery red.

"Hello Harry, Minerva," Lupin greeted him, as Tonks waved, her face stuffed with a slice of the bread that was still sitting on the table.

"Hi, Professor, Hi Tonks," Harry replied, Professor McGonagall nodded in greeting.

"I thought we agreed last night that you would call me Remus?" Lupin said sitting down in the chair on the other side of Harry.

"I don't really remember much of last night," Harry admitted, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes, well, I am glad to see you have improved. Unfortunately, I won't be able to protect you from Molly when she arrives here for the meeting this afternoon."

"Thank you for coming to get me," Harry said sincerely to Lupin and Tonks. "I don't think I would have survived much longer."

"Your welcome, Harry," Tonks replied. Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, don't you ever scare me like that again," he said sternly. Harry saw the mixture of anger and sadness in his pseudo-uncle's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologised. Remus pulled Harry in for a fierce hug.

"And I'm sorry you had to go through his death alone." Silently they forgave each other and the group changed the topic and began to discuss Bill and Fleur's upcoming wedding.

As Lupin, McGonagall and Tonks laughed over a fiasco involving the bridesmaid dresses, Harry couldn't help but wonder how life could just carry on. The world has lost one of the greatest wizards that ever lived, and still life continued on as normal. Harry, however, knew that for him, life would never be the same again.

* * *

A/N: Well that's Chapter Two up. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Harry may have been a little OOC here and I have a feeling I will regret it later, but for them moment I want to leave it like it is. Chapter Three should be up in a week or so. Thanks for reading. 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The days passed relatively quickly, since Harry had arrived at the Manor. The order had thrown him a small birthday party, which due to safety concerns Ron and Hermione couldn't attend. Though he was reassured that precautions were being taken and he could attend Bill and Fleur's wedding at the end of August. Harry spent the weeks leading up to the wedding, training with Lupin and Tonks. As he was no longer underage, he was free to practice magic and they were using it to their full advantage. Occasionally Harry would receive instruction from Kingsley Shacklebolt or Mad-Eye Moody, but mostly it was Tonks and Lupin who put him through his paces.

He was gradually improving his wordless magic, he could now perform most charms and some transfigurations and almost all the defensive spells he had learnt so far. The insults thrown at him by Snape the night Dumbledore died only seemed to fuel his determination.

There had been one awkward moment when Snape showed up at the manor for a meeting. Harry and Snape had stared at each other. Harry had only just managed to contain his anger. Snape, on the other hand, looked guilty and for a fleeting second Harry thought he saw fear, but shrugged it off, putting it down to the lighting in the room.

"Potter, for what it's worth. I am sorry you had to see what you saw. I never wanted him dead," Snape apologised, jumping when the window beside them shattered into a million pieces. With his hands clenched into fists to stop them shaking, Harry tersely nodded at him and left the room before he did more accidental magic. From then on, Harry had chosen to avoid him like the plague, which was somewhat hard to do now that Harry had been allowed to join the Order.

When he wasn't training, Harry spent most of his time wandering around the manor, discovering all of its hidden corridors and secret rooms. He liked it there, he felt the part of him that disappeared when Dumbledore had died, had returned. One morning Harry had entered one of the bedrooms and felt that it couldn't be any room other than his mentor's. Feeling like he was intruding, he had quickly left.

A few days later, he accidentally discovered a secret room behind a painting of Hogwarts, when he had raised a hand to touch the window that he knew was the window to his dormitory. The painting had swung open to reveal a small room. In the centre of the room stood a grand desk, littered with pieces of parchment, empty and dried up ink bottles, a couple of broken quills and several old dusty books. Curved bookcases covered three quarters of the walls and on them sat hundreds of books and a number of whirling gadgets. Harry took a sharp breath as it dawned on him that the office was eerily similar to Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. Next to the desk sat a perch similar to the one that had sat beside the headmaster's desk. An ache began in the pit of his stomach, as his eyes stung with unshed tears.

A soft melody began to sound throughout the room, echoing from the high ceiling. The melody sounded awfully familiar to Harry, and he turned to see Fawkes perched on the arm rest of a comfortable looking high-backed chair just to the right of the door. He knew that nobody had seen Fawkes since the Headmaster had died and to find him here in what Harry assumed to be Dumbledore's private study, seemed somewhat... right.

"Hello, Fawkes," Harry said, moving to sit in the chair that Fawkes was perched on. Fawkes regarded Harry carefully and slowly stopped singing.

"Do you miss him too?" he asked, reaching out and stroking Fawkes' feathers gently. Fawkes continued to stare at Harry.

"Yeah, I miss him. I feel guilty for being angry at him and destroying his office back in fifth year." Fawkes crowed indignantly.

"I know, he told me I had every right, but it doesn't stop me from feeling guilty. I hurt him that day, I know it." Fawkes hopped down so that he was resting on Harry's knee. Fawkes crowed soothingly.

Harry smiled softly, as he continued to stroke Fawkes. He spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the patient phoenix. It was longest he had ever talked, and he felt that Fawkes seemed to understand him, even if he didn't understand himself. Everyday since that first one, he returned. Sometimes, Fawkes wasn't there when he arrived but he would always show up before Harry left. He didn't know where the phoenix went when he wasn't listening to Harry, and he never asked. It felt good to talk about things and Fawkes seemed only too willing to listen.

Both Remus and Tonks had questioned him about where he went, but he never let on, always replying in the same way, "exploring". He wasn't ready to tell anyone about the study and he wasn't quite sure if he ever wanted to. It was his hideaway, somewhere where he could read, somewhere he could think, but most importantly it was his place to go when he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.

* * *

Three weeks into his stay, Voldemort had launched a particularly nasty attack on a muggle town not that far from Surrey. Twenty muggles had died in the attack. That day Harry had gone to the study and screamed himself hoarse with frustration. It was on days like those that he thought 'why him?'. 

From what Harry could gather during the course of his stay so far, Lupin lived in the Manor, Dumbledore making sure that since he couldn't be safely housed at Grimmauld Place, that there was a room for him wherever headquarters was situated. Tonks also appeared to have moved into the manor, though Harry had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't so much the fact that Tonks had no where else to go, rather she was going to be wherever Remus was going to be.

The other frequent house guest was Professor McGonagall, who had, at Harry's persistence, begun to teach him the art of animagus transformations. His form, much to his surprise was a lion. Professor McGonagall too was shocked, claiming that the last person to have a lion as an animagus form was Godric Gryffindor himself. A couple of weeks later, Harry was frustrated to find that the only changes he had been able to muster was a fine set of whiskers and lovely long tail. McGonagall however wasn't discouraged, claiming it was several months before she had even been able to grow a tail.

The week leading up to Bill and Fleur's wedding flew by in a blur. Tightened security, particularly around Harry, meant that the wedding was going to be held in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Harry was not looking forward to returning there, but he had promised Bill and Mrs Weasley that he would attend and he did want to see Ron and Hermione again. But thinking of the Weasley's invariably led him to thinking about the youngest red-head. He was slightly apprehensive about seeing Ginny again. Out of everyone she was the one he missed the most, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to suppress his feelings if he saw her again. 'No, she would be in too much danger. Keep her safe. Forget about her,' he kept reminding himself.

* * *

The day before they were to leave for Hogwarts, Remus came home carrying a large box in his hands. Harry looked up from the book he was reading ('_Hogwarts, A History_') as Remus placed the box in front of him on the kitchen table. 

"What's this?" Harry asked. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Open it and see." Harry looked Lupin in the eyes for a moment before putting the book down, and lifting the lid off the box.

Inside was a set of handsome, new, black dress robes. Harry turned to Lupin.

"Well, I'm guessing your robes from fourth year are too small, and you need dress robes for the wedding, so," he trailed off.

"Thanks Remus, to be honest I never thought about what I would be wearing." Remus smiled.

"Neither did I to be equally honest. It was Tonks that reminded me." Harry chuckled. "So what are you reading?" Harry held up the book so he could read the title. "Why are you reading up on the history of Hogwarts?"

"Well, Hermione is always going on about how Ron and I should read it. Besides, it may contain information on the founders, and if I'm to destroy the horcruxes then I need to learn about the founders."

"Makes sense," Remus agreed.

"Yeah, or could be a complete waste of time." Remus stared at him.

"Harry, nothing in this war is a complete waste of time. You of all people need to know that," he said seriously.

"Yeah, I know, it's just," Harry paused, arguing with himself whether or not to say what he was really feeling.

His head was telling him not to get too close, not to trust, his heart telling him that he needs to do this, to get it off his chest. He remembered how good it was to talk to Fawkes and in the end his heart won.

"It's just that sometimes it seems like such an impossible task. Sometimes I just wish that I…" Harry trailed off, staring at his lap. Lupin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We've all wished that you were never chosen, that you could have had a normal life, that James and Lily and Sirius, and Dumbledore were still alive."

"I know, it's just hard sometimes, you know?" Harry looked up and met Remus' eyes.

"You've had to grow up so fast, and the way you've handled it," he paused, smiling at Harry. "Your parents would have been so proud of you." Harry smiled and looked away.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome Harry."

Harry felt like a small weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He had been scared that Lupin would think he was weak for feeling helpless or selfish for wishing it wasn't him. To be honest, Harry did feel guilty for wishing it wasn't him, because if it wasn't him then Harry knew it would be Neville, and Harry wouldn't want to wish his life on anyone, particularly Neville.

That night Harry lay in bed trying to concentrate on the 'Handy Hexes' book Tonks gave him for his birthday, but instead of learning about how to turn his opponents limbs into tentacles, a certain red-headed witch monopolised his thoughts. Tomorrow he would see her, and if asked, he wouldn't be able to answer just exactly how he was feeling.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to see her or not. On one hand if he didn't see her he wouldn't have to think about everything he gave up in order to keep her safe. On the other hand, he had missed her so much since they had parted after the funeral. The separation had led him to realise just how much he had needed her. It was like a never ending battle between his head and his heart.

Then again there was also the scenario where Ginny hated him and her six-older brothers would curse him into oblivion for breaking her heart.

Yawning suddenly, he pushed all thoughts of Ginny out of his head. Closing his book and placing it on the nightstand, he then turned off the lights and within minutes he was asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Harry was woken by a bucket of cold water being poured over him. Within a matter of seconds, Harry was out of bed and standing in front of his 'attacker' his wand pointed at their chest. Lupin froze not daring to move. 

"I'll say it was a lot less life-threatening to wake your father up that way," he joked light-heartedly as Harry slowly realised who had woken him up.

"Oh, Remus. I'm sorry," Harry said wide-eyed. Lupin and the painting in the corner chuckled.

"Nothing to be sorry about my dear boy. I'm glad to see your reflexes have greatly improved," he said calmly. "Now hurry up and get packed. Tonks decided that she was cooking us breakfast this morning, so be prepared to have toast on the run." They both chuckled, as the smell of burnt eggs reached their nostrils. Winking at Harry, Lupin hurried out the room to help Tonks before the manor burnt to the ground. Shaking his head, Harry set about packing, his ability to legally perform magic greatly assisting in the task.

Ten minutes later, Harry dragged all his belongings now packed up in his trunk, down the stairs.

"I don't suppose you are going to tell me why I have all of my stuff packed up in my trunk?" Harry asked entering the kitchen to see Lupin and Tonks moving hurriedly away from each other, Tonks facing the window and Lupin facing him, his ears and cheeks tinged with pink. Harry stared at his pseudo-uncle a suspicious look on his face.

"Because Minerva asked you to," Lupin answered shortly, his voice slightly higher than normal. "We're running late, so it will have to be toast for breakfast this morning." Harry held in a laugh as he watched as Lupin and Tonks finished making the toast (Tonks having been delegated buttering duty). "Here we go, eat up Harry," Tonks said cheerily, placing a stack of buttered toast in front of him. Smiling in return, he thanked them both and began to eat.

Gathering in the entrance way of the manor, Lupin shrunk Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage and placed them in his pocket.

"Ok Harry, we're going to apparate to just outside Hogwart's gates. I know you're not licensed," he held up his had to stop Harry's protest. "But it's the quickest and safest way."

"Hurry up you two," Tonks said impatiently shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Ok, hang on, I've just got to disillusion you." Lupin cast the charm on Harry and he felt the familiar feeling run down his back. Lupin then disillusioned himself and finally Tonks. "Alright, on the count of three. One, two, three…"

They landed with a loud crack, and were hastily rushed inside the gates by the waiting guard.

"Oh, man I'm never going to get used to that," Harry muttered as he swayed on his feet. A deep chuckle from behind him, alerted Harry to the invisible guard standing around them. The chuckle, Harry recognised as being Kingsley Shacklebolt's, an auror from the ministry.

"You'll get used to it eventually," he replied in a low voice.

"Hello Potter, sorry to break up this reunion, but we need to get inside the castle," Mad-eye Moody's voice spoke up as he began to hurry them all up the hill. As they were walking up the hill, Harry felt the presence of someone coming to stand beside him.

"Hello Harry, did you have a good trip?" Harry stared at spot where he assumed Professor McGonagall was. Offhandedly, he wondered why people always asked that, even though apparating only takes a couple of seconds. Not knowing what else to say, he simply said,

"It was fine thanks."

Together the group headed up to the castle. As the astronomy tower came into view, Harry gave an involuntary shiver. Lupin, who was walking on the other side of Harry felt his shiver and gently patted his shoulder. Harry gave him a small smile, forgetting that Lupin wouldn't be able to see it, and continued to walk on in silence. Stepping into the entrance hall, Harry felt the charm being lifted and barely had time to register the decorations before his view became obstructed by a mass of curly, brown hair.

"Hello Hermione," Harry greeted, hugging her in return.

"Harry, how are you? We're so sorry we couldn't come to your birthday party, we really wanted to but the order wouldn't let us, and…"

"Come on 'Mione, let the man breathe," Ron chuckled. "Hey Harry, how's your summer been?"

Harry studied his two best friends. Hermione had grown about an inch, her normally bushy hair tamed into beautiful curls for the wedding. Ron, on the other hand had grown a few inches and he now towered over Harry. His bright red hair had grown a bit longer and his faced had changed, it looked more mature rather than boyish. Excitedly, they spent the next few minutes catching up on each others summers before Mrs Weasley came in and interrupted them.

"Hello Harry, I'm so glad you could make it today," she said breathlessly, as though she had just been running. Pulling out of her hug, he replied,

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Mrs Weasley smiled.

"Well you had all better hurry up and change, its not long before the ceremony starts."

Harry, Ron and Hermione headed up towards Gryffindor Tower where they had been allowed to stay. They continued to chat about their summer so far, or more like Ron and Hermione did whilst Harry listened, his stomach churning with nerves. He had yet to see Ginny and from the way Ron and Hermione had been avoiding the subject since he arrived, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to see her.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for all of the fantastic reviews. I appreciate all the comments you make and if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism, I promise to take it into consideration. I am about to head into exam period, so Chapter Four may be a couple of weeks away, but then I have a three month holiday, so I will have plenty of time for writing. Thanks again. - Liz 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG - 13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Arriving in the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione, Harry stopped and looked at the transformation that seemed to have taken place. The house tables had disappeared, and the hall had been partitioned off into two sections. The back half of the hall had been charmed to look like what Harry could only describe as a fairyland. He felt like he was deep within a magical forest instead of standing in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. There were flowers everywhere, their perfumed scent heavy in the air. Bright fairies had been placed in the numerous trees that had been brought in to add to the forest illusion. There were ten rows of white seats which sat on either side of a long white carpeted aisle that had been scattered with flower petals and small green leaves.

"Why charm the hall to look like a forest, when there is a perfectly good forest outside?" Harry asked, turning to Ron and Hermione who didn't seem as impressed as Harry at the change in the great hall.

"Because Harry, it's too dangerous to be outside," Ron said.

"Why?" Harry asked, looking confused.

"Because Voldemort can't know that Hogwarts is in use and if we hold the wedding outside it's like displaying a great big neon sign. It's taken everyone months to sneak all the wedding things in," Hermione explained.

"Well they have done a great job with the place, you would hardly recognise it as the great hall," Harry said taking another look around.

"It turns out that all of Fluer's family are fantastic at charms, most of it was their work. Although, Professor Flitwick is responsible for the fairies," Hermione said.

More guests had arrived in the time they had taken to admire the change in the Great Hall, and Harry had the uncomfortable feeling that everyone was watching him. Looking around he found that several people were openly goggling at him. Feeling the tension buildingup in his stomach, he grabbed Hermione and Ron by the arms and practically dragged them to the spare seats next to Remus, Tonks and the twins.

"Ow! Harry! What was that for?" Hermione exclaimed, rubbing her arm where a red mark had begun to appear.

"People were beginning to stare," Harry muttered and tried to ignore the whispers that now seemed to surround him.

Harry had heard from Lupin that The Daily Prophet had reported him as being with Dumbledore when he died and that he had trained the group of students that helped fight the Death Eaters who attacked Hogwarts before the end of term. 'Like I need another reason for everyone to stare,' Harry thought bitterly, before returning his thoughts the the decorations around him.

He looked up at the alter that had been constructed out of what appeared to be marble. There, standing to one side, was Bill, the marks left by Greyback still clearly visible, but less obvious than they had been at the end of term. He was smiling brightly and laughed at something Charlie, said to him. Harry found that he himself was smiling, 'this is what life should be like' he thought as he looked at the three men standing beside Bill.

Immediately to his left was Charlie, Bill's brother and best man. Next to Charlie were two people that Harry didn't recognise.

"The guy next to Charlie worked with Bill in Egypt and the guy beside him was Bill's best friend from Hogwarts," Ron spoke up as though he knew what was on Harry's mind.

Harry turned his attention to the other guests that had begun to gather. It was a reasonably small assembly; a few order members, then there were two rows of mostly red-heads, sitting just behind Harry and the others, that he presumed to be the extended Weasley family, then on the other side of the aisle the previously empty seats were now starting to fill with what Harry assumed were Fleur's family and friends. Turning around to say something to Ron, he stifled a chuckle as he forced Ron's mouth closed. Angrily, Ron turned towards Harry.

"You were catching flies with that thing," Harry whispered, whilst Hermione was glaring at Ron. Embarrassed at being caught, his ears turned pink.

"Well it's obvious that most of her family are Veela," Ron said half annoyed that once again he had been caught oogling, whilst Harry was seemingly unaffected. Harry laughed openly this time, and it felt good. It had been a while since he had laughed like that. His good mood though cost him a punch in the arm.

A silence fell through the crowd as a small quartet set up towards the side of the hall began to play. The music was soft and sweet and beautiful, and everyone turned to face the doors to the great hall. The procession was led by a pretty little girl with long blonde hair, Harry smiled as she almost skipped up the aisle, enthusiastically throwing her petals in the air, he then glanced back up the aisle and his breath was taken away.

Ginny was walking down the aisle, clothed in beautiful pale-blue robes. Her hair curled and pulled into a loose bun, with stray tendrils allowed to frame her face. But it wasn't so much the way she looked that had affected Harry so much, it was her smile. She looked genuinely happy. Uneasiness settled within him, 'she's gotten over me, she's moved on'. Then her eyes caught his and her smile became even brighter, if it was possible, and all the worry and fear left him. He grinned back at her.

All throughout the ceremony, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. At one stage she looked over at him and winked, and Harry couldn't help but smile in return. All too soon it was over and Harry tore his eyes away from Ginny in time to see Bill and Fleur kiss. Harry had to admit that Fleur looked beautiful in her long white dress robes, and so did Gabrielle, Fleur's sister and another girl that Harry recognised as being one of Fleur's friends from Beaubaxtons who came to Hogwart's for the Triwizard Tournament, but in his mind none of them compared to Ginny. He shook his head trying to push all thoughts of Ginny out of his mind. 'No, she would be in too much danger. Keep her safe. Forget about her,' he reminded himself.

Bill and Fleur made their way down the aisle as the guest threw handfuls of confetti into the air. As the newlyweds went off to have their pictures taken, the guests slowly made their way to the front of the hall. The noise level in the hall grew as the chatter increased.

The front of the hall was also decorated in the fairyland theme. About fifteen small round tables, seating six people per table, were set up around the perimeter of a circle, within which, Harry assumed, was the dance floor. Harry said goodbye to Remus and Tonks and followed Ron, Hermione and the twins over to one of the tables.

They all sat down and began to catch up with everything that they had done over the summer; the Weasley's talked about the chaos surrounding the wedding, Hermione talked about her trip to Spain with her family and Harry talked about his time at the manor that he, frustratingly, could not remember the name of. He had left out the parts about Dumbledore's private study, Fawkes and his animagus training, unsure if he wanted to talk about them just yet.

Just as Harry finished telling the others about Aberforth, the painting, Ginny arrived and flopped down into the only empty chair left… the one right next to Harry.

"Alright there Gin?" Fred asked an exhausted-looking Ginny.

"You have no idea how tiring Phlegm and her mother are. Pictures before, pictures after, pictures standing up, pictures sitting down, pictures in the bride's suite, pictures in the entrance hall, pictures on the grand stair case, pictures at the alter. I swear, if I never see another camera in my life, it will be too soon," Ginny vented, frustration evident in her tone.

"I'd steer clear of Colin this year then," Ron advised with a chuckle.

"If Hogwarts is even open this year," Ginny mumbled. A hush fell over the table. Harry's thoughts revisited the images of Dumbledore flying off the top of the Astronomy Tower. The soft lullaby of a Phoenix sounded through the hall and lessened Harry's pain.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Fawkes," Harry replied without thinking. Everyone stared at him.

"Harry, Fawkes hasn't been seen since Dumbledore died," Ginny said quietly. Harry looked around the table, to see everyone's eyes fixed on him, waiting for an answer. He sighed softly, seeing no other way but to tell them.

"I've seen him."

"But Harry, when a person dies their familiars usually disappear and are never seen again," Hermione added. "They are usually in too much grief and don't survive much longer."

"Well, I saw him whilst I was staying at the manor, I don't know why, I just know that I did," he snapped, then was immediately remorseful. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap. It's just he's my only link to him." The others nodded in understanding.

"Do you think Hogwarts will open again?" Ron asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table.

"McGonagall's still here, she would be the obvious choice for Headmistress," George stated.

"Yeah but Dumbledore isn't. Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort feared. With him gone…"

"Dumbledore isn't the only one Voldemort feared," Ginny interrupted Fred. Harry shifted uneasily in his seat. "He fears Harry too, and if Harry is here…" she trailed off as she looked at a pale-faced Harry. "You're not coming back?" she more stated then asked, already seeing the answer on his face. The twins turned to look at him whilst Ron and Hermione looked nervously at each other.

"And you two are letting him?" she said rounding on her older brother and her friend. Her eyes widened as she read their faces. "You're going with him!" she exclaimed, drawing attention to their table. It was uncanny, sometimes, just how much she was like Mrs Weasley, able to spot the truth a mile away.

Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but Ginny stopped her before she could get a word out. "Save it I don't want to hear it," she turned to Harry. "After everything you told me when we broke up. I can't believe you are letting them go with you," she whispered fiercely, standing up abruptly from the table and exiting the hall. Ron moved to follow her, but Harry stopped him.

"I'll go," he muttered, turning and following Ginny out of the hall, completely aware of the stares his retreating back was receiving.

He found her in an abandoned classroom on the first floor, not too far from the great hall. He quietly opened the door and found Ginny sitting on a ledge underneath one of the large windows that looked over the courtyard. Tiny, muffled sobs reached his ears and an ache grew in his chest. He had never heard Ginny cry before, and the sound upset him immensely.

"Ginny?" he called softly. She ignored him. "Ginny!" he called louder. Still she didn't turn around.

"Ginny, I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't know they were coming with me until after we had broken up. I couldn't make them stay behind. They've been with me from the beginning, and I can't imagine doing this on my own." She still refused to turn and face him. "Ginny, you have to understand, I did this to protect you!" Ginny spun around to face him.

"I don't need protection Harry, I'm a big girl."

"As long as you're with me, you're in danger." Ginny stared at him.

"We are in the middle of a war, that my whole family is involved in. The Weasley's are one of the biggest blood traitor families in the wizarding world. We're already targets Harry."

"You can't possibly understand." Ginny looked up defiantly into his face.

"Understand what, Harry?"

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. She stared at him waiting for his answer. Thoughts flooded his head. 'What didn't she understand?'

"Your family needs you…" he said finally, and immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"My family?" she asked incredulously. "You know what Harry, fine, be the hero, be my knight in shining armour, keep me safe because my family needs me, because you seem to know me oh so well. I'm just Ron's little sister, the damsel in distress that's kept locked in her tower." She turned around and stormed out of the room.

"Ginny!" he called. "Ginny come back!" Harry ran to the door and watched her run down the corridor. "You're not the damsel in distress," he whispered to himself.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for the reviews. I know the chapter is a little short but hopefully the next one will be longer. Anyway, I am officially on holidays starting this Saturday, so hopefully I will get more writing done. Thanks for reading. - Liz 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Ron, Hermione, Fred and George sat quietly at the table, not a word had been spoken since Harry had left the room.

"What do you think is happening?" Ron asked, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"I don't know," Hermione said, worry etched on her face.

"Ginny looked furious when she left," Fred added.

"And we all know how good Harry is with words." George finished.

"I think we should go and see how they are doing?" Hermione suggested.

"You're going by yourself, then 'cause I…" Ron was cut off by a piercing look from Hermione. "Or maybe I could just go with you," Ron mumbled as he got up to follow Hermione, trying his best to ignore the looks the twins were giving him.

They reached the top of the staircase in time to see Ginny burst through one of the classroom doors and head in the opposite direction from where Ron and Hermione stood. Not five seconds later, Harry's head appeared out the door, before disappearing inside the classroom again. Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"You take Harry, I'll take Ginny," Hermione said.

"I don't know what to say to him," Ron whispered, his eyes wide.

"You'll think of something," Hermione reassured him. "Just be nice."

"Be nice, be nice," Ron repeated to himself as he walked towards the classroom that Harry was in, he paused briefly at the door, then knocked and entered. Hermione watch him go in then quickly hurried off in the direction in which Ginny had gone.

* * *

He was sure that he had ruined everything by trying to protect her, but he didn't know what else to do. Those months that he had spent with Ginny were the best months of his life. He couldn't lose that, it was the only thing that kept him going. Besides, he was going away for who knows how long. Even if he threw caution to the wind and got back together with her, he wouldn't want to leave her side for a second. 

He slumped down further into the seat by the window that Ginny had occupied not that long ago. How come everything good in his life was taken away from him or is just beyond his grasp? 'Why me?' he thought for what seemed like the millionth time. Why was he the 'marked' one? What did he do to upset the Gods in a previous life? Even though he was fighting for the good side, he couldn't help but feel as though he was living in hell.

Rain poured down outside, battering the window pane in a steady rhythm, the ferocity of which seemed to match his rising anger at the world. A soft trill that Harry knew only too well reached his ears and immediately he felt its effects. His heart slowed to a less painful rhythm as his rage lessened. 'Don't go back to being that person,' he thought. He suddenly felt a soft pressure on his knee and he opened his eyes to see the red and gold plumage that was Fawkes.

"I think I've lost her for good, Fawkes," he whispered, carefully stroking the creatures head. Fawkes shook his head, as he stared at Harry.

"How is she ever going to forgive me?" Fawkes crowed softly in reply.

The sound of footsteps coming along the hall and hushed arguing voices alerted Harry to Ron and Hermione coming to check up on him. With another trill, the phoenix disappeared in a burst of flame, leaving Harry feeling slightly better than he had been just after Ginny had left. A second later there was a soft knock on the door and it opened to reveal Ron. Hermione, Harry assumed, must have gone to check on Ginny.

"Alright there, Harry?" Ron asked somewhat awkwardly.

"I'm fine," he whispered in a voice that so obviously exposed the lie. He wasn't fine, he just lost the only good thing that had happened to him in the last few months, of course he wasn't fine.

"Did you hurt her again?" Ron asked in a quiet but deadly voice.

"NO!" Harry yelled. "I'm trying to protect her!" Harry continued, standing up, his fists clenched. "I'm trying to keep her safe. Why can't anyone understand that?"

"I do, Harry, I'm sorry. It's just…" Ron paused and sat down in front of Harry. "She's my sister, and I don't like to see her upset."

"Me neither, Ron," Harry said, turning to stare out of the window again. "Me neither."

* * *

Hermione found Ginny in her dorm room, curled up into a ball, on her bed, sobbing. 

"Ginny?" Hermione called out tentatively. Ginny gave no indication that she had heard her. "Ginny, what happened?" Hermione tried again walking over and sitting on the side of Ginny's bed.

"Your family needs you," Ginny whispered, wiping her tears away. "That was his excuse."

"He's only worried about losing you," Hermione reasoned.

"I've told him time and time again that I can look after myself. I have dealt with You-Know-Who before, I can deal with him again," she said fiercely.

"Ginny, you need to understand it from Harry's point of view. Everyone one he gets close to, everyone that he lets into his heart, dies, his parents, Sirius and Dumbledore. Voldemort had Cedric Diggory killed simply because he was with Harry in the Graveyard. Harry constantly has Voldemort in his mind, taunting him, teasing him, torturing him. Ron says that he has nightmares most nights, and more often that not, he wakes up screaming and in pain."

"I know what it is like to have Voldemort in my head. He was in mine for a whole year! Or doesn't anyone remember that?" Ginny exclaimed.

"We remember, Ginny, we do, but the effects Voldemort had over you and the effects Voldemort has over Harry are extremely different."

"How?" Ginny said, disbelievingly.

"Harry was brought up differently; abandoned and starved for loved. He needs love almost as much as he needs oxygen and Voldemort knows that. Voldemort kills everyone that Harry gets close to so that he feels weak and helpless. Before Harry came to the wizarding world no one seemed to care about him and now that he's found us, he is so desperate to hold on to that feeling that Voldemort can do more damage to him by hurting us, then he can any other way. We're his weak spot.

"You on the other hand know that no matter what happens you have your family and friends who've always been there for you, therefore Voldemort's threats don't have anywhere near the kind of power that they have against Harry. Voldemort sees love as a weakness because he knows how much it cripples Harry. Harry has to learn what the rest of us have always known about love and I believe that's how he is going to beat Voldemort."

Ginny stared at Hermione then looked away, blinking away tears.

"You're right, I feel awful for yelling at him. I guess, I was the one that didn't really understand."

"It's an easy mistake for anyone to make. It's amazing how much we all take for granted." Ginny smiled.

"I should go apologise," she said standing up and wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "Thanks Hermione."

"You're welcome," Hermione replied as she watched her leave the room.

* * *

Ron and Harry sat in silence watching the forest through the window, each lost in thought. They stirred when they heard a soft knocking at the door. 

"Yeah?" Ron called out. The door opened and in walked Ginny. Harry stood up and after a brief glance at Ginny, began to study his feet.

"Ron, fancy giving us a minute?" she asked.

"Sure, um, I'm… uh… I'm going to find Hermione," he said standing up and exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

Ginny watched Harry study his laces intensely.

"I'm sorry." Ginny jumped, she had been busy staring at him, that his soft voice startled her. Recovering quickly, she took a step forward.

"No, Harry, I'm sorry. I should have known that you were only looking out for me." Harry glanced up and met her eyes.

"I don't think you are the damsel in distress that needs saving."

"I know you don't," Ginny replied. "I was just angry. Growing up I was always left out of everything my brothers did, and I suppose that this was just one more thing." Ginny smiled awkwardly. Harry nodded, his way of saying he understood.

"Gin, there's something I have to tell you," he said, going back to stare at his laces. "I haven't even told Ron and Hermione yet. It's about this year."

"What is it?" Ginny asked, concerned in the change of tone in Harry's voice, suddenly he sounded so serious.

"That's just it I'm not really sure. Not long after I arrived at Dumbledore's Manor, Professor McGonagall gave me a letter from Professor Dumbledore, written before he died."

"What did it say?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Well he talked about my search for the horcruxes and finishing school, and…"

Before he could continue, Harry was interrupted by a knock at the door and Professor McGonagall entering.

"Harry, Miss Weasley, just the two people I was looking for. Could you please follow my up to the Headmaster's office?" Harry looked at Ginny and she shrugged as she followed McGonagall out of the classroom.

"Professor? Why did you need to see us?" Harry asked, hurrying to keep up with his head of house.

"Not right now Harry, you shall know everything soon enough." Harry and Ginny shared a look of puzzlement, as they continued to walk on in silence.

To Harry, the headmaster's office looked exactly the same as the last timehe was in it, and he half-expected Dumbledore to come out from hiding in his corner and say that it had all been just a joke. However, by the look on Professor McGonagall's face this trip up to the office was anything but a joke.

"As you both may have guessed, though maybe not, the school will not be opening this year. Professor Horace Slughorn has disappeared and no one can find him, Professor Snape has had to go into hiding, and will most definitely not be returning to the school in the near future, and as I was voted the next Headmistress by the Board of School Governors, it seems that we are in need of a Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, a Transfiguration Professor and a Potions Master. Unfortunately there was no one willing or able to take any of the jobs. So that leaves us with a school without teachers for three subjects. Anyhow, the majority of parents are going to be reluctant to send their children away from home during these dark times, and to be honest I wouldn't blame them," Professor McGonagall stared up at the snoozing portrait of Professor Dumbledore on the wall, looks of pain and sorrow flittered across her face before she regained her composure.

"That leaves us the problem of Harry completing his education, as per his parent's request. As I have just told you it is impossible for you to complete your education here, and Professor Dumbledore feels that it is vital for you to finish schooling in order to do anything that involves You-Know-Who, and, as a matter of fact, so do I."

"So where am I going? Durmstrang? Beauxbatons?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry, you are too well known there. It has to be somewhere where no one will know you," McGonagall said.

"Mexico? Australia? Japan?" Ginny asked.

"Miss Weasley, Harry is famous all over the world. He is not safe anywhere, particularly where there are no order members permanently near by."

"Well then where am I going?" Harry asked.

"1977," McGonagall answered.

"What?" Harry asked, not sure if he had heard right.

"Did you say 1977?" Ginny asked. 'Well at least I wasn't the only one that thought she had said that,' Harry thought.

"Yes, I did. You are both going back to 1977."

"Wait a minute. Both of us?" Harry asked.

"Me? Why am I going?" Ginny questioned at the same time.

"Because, Miss Weasley," McGonagallsaid, bowing her head to look over the rim of her glasses thatwere perched on the tip of her nose."When Harry came back, you were with him."

Harry and Ginny stared at each other.

"Hermione told me that you had told her all sorts of horror stories about people who changed time, aren't you worried about us messing everything up?" Harry asked still in a state of shock.

"Dumbledore obviously felt that it was important otherwise he wouldn't have come up with the means to be able to do this. You see, no one has traveledso far back in time before, well except you of course."

"No I haven't," Harry stated.

"Yes you have, well to me you have. You see your future is in my past, well a year of it at least. Try not to think about it too much, the more you do, the more confusing it becomes."

"So you're sending us back in time to study for a year? What about Ron and Hermione, what are they going to do for this year?" Harry asked.

"Mr Weasley and Miss Granger will have to option of completing their education when Hogwarts opens again." She paused, once again glancing at the portrait of Dumbledore. "Now, the spell itself sends you into the past for the space of one year, and it will return you one year later to this very day, not this date a year from now. In other words you will be in the past for a year to find that approximately only an hour has lapsed here. However, tonight is the only night it can be done." She turned to look outside the window. "It's nearly time," she muttered to herself.

"I've had your trunks brought up here and all that is left is for me to give you this letter for you to give to the Professor Dumbledore of 1977. Don't try to change the future no matter how much you may want to, even if you know of something that happens that you don't like the outcome of, don't try to intervene or you will return to a very different world. That is very important. Well, behave yourselves and I will see you in the past."

They barely had time to acknowledge Professor McGonagall's warnings before she recited the spell and everything went black.

* * *

A/N: I am so very sorry about the long wait for the chapter, but I found it really hard to write Harry and Ginny's make up session. I didn't want to rush things too quickly. I hope this chapter answers some of the questions that you guys have been asking. Anyway, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Hopefully it won't be as long between this chapter and the next. Happy reading - Liz 


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Harry awoke slowly to an annoying ringing in his ears and a throbbing headache. He squinted his eyes to shield them from the bright light, and gradually a blurry room formed around him. Fumbling around on the bed side table, he located his glasses and put them on. As the room swam into focus, Harry groaned. Once again he had found himself in 'his' bed in the hospital wing.

"It didn't work," Harry muttered to himself. He was astounded, he wasn't exactly sure why, but he was.

"It doesn't look like it," said a voice to his right. Harry turned to see Ginny lying in the bed beside him.

"Professor McGonagall looked so confident."

"I know," Ginny replied.

"I wonder what went wrong?"

"I wish I knew."

"We need to go see, Professor McGonagall," Harry said, climbing out of the bed. He managed to take two steps before his legs gave way beneath him.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, and not three seconds later, the door to the infirmary burst open.

"What's going on in here?" Madame Pomfrey called, hurrying over to help Harry stand.

"Stay in that bed, young lady," she added seeing Ginny attempting to stand.

"We were just trying to…" Harry trailed off as he looked at the matron. "Did you dye your hair?" he asked. Madame Pomfrey almost dropped him in shock.

"What did you just ask me?"

"Your hair, it looks darker."

"Young man, I don't know what you are talking about," she replied getting Harry on to his feet. Harry stared at her and he realised that this wasn't the Madame Pomfrey he knew, cause if it was he would be listening to her lecture about the dangers of whatever it was he was supposed to have done this time. Something clicked inside Harry's head, the reason Madame Pomfrey's hair looked darker was because it didn't contain as much grey hair as it normally did.

"We made it! Ginny, we're here!" Ginny smiled and nodded at Harry.

"You need to get into bed," Madame Pomfrey said, ignoring his outburst andhelping him to lie down. "Now if you remain quiet I will go and get the headmaster."

As the head healer hurried out of the room, Harry lay there going over the achievement they had just made in his head. 'Twenty years, that would make it – ' Harry froze, his insides tightening. Suddenly, he sat up, regretting it almost immediately as his headache intensified.

"Ginny, what year did Professor McGonagall say we were going to?"

"1977, I think. Why?" she asked. The blood drained from Harry's face and he had to lay back down as he began to feel dizzy. "Harry?" Ginny asked concerned by his pale face. "What's wrong."

"My parents…"

"What about – oh," she said realizing what he was talking about.

Harry felt his stomach twist into knots. Ever since McGonagall had told himhow he was going to complete his education,Harry had beenso busy trying to grasp the fact that he was supposed to travel back in time, that the year hadn't seemed important. Now it seemed incredibly important . How was he supposed to survive a year in the past with his parents? Another wave ofanguish swept over Harry as he realised that not only were his parents alive in this time period by Sirius was as well. Not to mention, a much younger Remus and the traitor, Peter Pettigrew. 'Why this time period?' he wondered.

As much as Harry wanted to get to know and spend time with his parents, he wasn't sure he wanted to, not if he had to leave them at the end of the year. Thoughts began to enter his head; 'what if they don't like me?', 'what if I don't like them?' and a thousand other similar thoughts raced through Harry's mind, doing nothing to help his pounding headache. His heart began to race and his palms, sweat, as a panic began to rise from within. It was almost laughable that the boy who defeats trolls, slays Basilisks, gets past dragons and has faced death more times than he would have liked, would be scared of meeting his own parents.

"Harry?" Ginny called, breaking him out of this trance. Harry turned to look at her, his eyes almost pleading for reassurance that his parents wouldn't hate him.

"Harry, I'm sure –."

Harry turned around to seeing why Ginny had stopped talking, and there standing in the doorway of the hospital wing was none other than the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harry stared, not moving, at the man whom he considered to be his surrogate grandfather, and the greatest wizard in the world. His eyes began to water, as he replayed the night Dumbledore flew off the top of the astronomy tower over and over again in his mind. The memories were still too recent, Harry could still hear the conversation between Malfoy and the Headmaster and he could still see the flash of green light. Yet, somehow, seeing Dumbledore alive in this time had managed to fill a spot within Harry that had been empty ever since the Dumbledore of his time had died. He felt safe again.

A younger Dumbledore entered the room followed closely by Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey.

"Poppy, would you mind giving us a moment? There are many things that we need to discuss," Dumbledore said kindly to the matron.

"Of course, Professor, call me if you need anything."

"I most certainly will," Dumbledore said smiling as he watched her leave. Once the door between the infirmary and Madame Pomfrey's office was closed, Dumbledore turned back to face Harry and Ginny, his smile gone and his eyes twinkle free. Harry sat up straighter, as he moved closer to their beds, Professor McGonagall not far behind him.

"Who are you?" he asked calmly and without the warmth his tone usually carried. Harry tried to answer but found that he had lost the power of speech. Tears glistened in his eyes, and he was forced to look down at the bed, the emotions becoming too much. As he tried to discreetly wipe the tears away, Harry felt the familiar probing of his mind.

"Please don't," he whispered, and immediately the probing stopped. Dumbledore was shocked that the young boy in front of him was trained in occlumency. It was rare for one so young to be gifted in that area.

"I am sorry," he apoligised sincerly. "However, you must understand that dark times are upon us and it is hard to know who to trust," he said glancing from Harry to Ginny and back again. "Please tell me your names."

"We have a letter," Ginny spoke up,"Explaining who we are and why we are here, it's in the pocket of his dress robes," she said pointing to Harry. For the first time Harry noticed that neither he nor Ginny were wearing the clothes they wore to the wedding, instead they wore pyjamas."

"I believe Madame Pomfrey simply transfigured your clothes, so young man the letter should still be in your pocket." Harry felt his pockets and sure enough extracted the letter Professor McGonagall had given him back in 1997. He handed the letter over to Dumbledore. McGonagall had not told them what was in the letter, so Harry and Ginny had no idea how much this Dumbledore was being told about the future, if he was being told anything at all.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore handed the letter to McGonagall, who looked at Harry and Ginny, before turning her attention to the letter. An awkward silence filled the room as McGonagall read the letter. Harry could feel Dumbledore's stare on him, and it made him feel uncomfortable, he sneaked a glance at Professor McGonagall and saw that she had a hand over mouth and looked to be in shock. At that moment she looked up and straight into Harry's eyes.

"Oh my," she said breaking the silence.

"Please sir, do you mind telling us what is in the letter," Ginny asked. "We left in such a rush that we weren't informed of what you would or would not know about us." Harry looked at Ginny in amazement, he hadn't even thought of that.

"Well, Miss Weasley, the letter informed us that you and Mr Potter were sent back to us from the year 1997 to continue your education as, in your time, the future of Hogwartsis uncertain. Is this correct?" Professor Dumbledore asked. Harry and Ginny nodded.

"The letter also makes reference to a prophecy and that young Mr Potter here needs to be trained in the ways of defence, dueling in particular. It does not mention much more than that and I feel that it was probably wise on my part. We can't risk changing the future, or you may not have a future to go back to." Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing, 'that would be a disaster'.

"It's also written here that you both are in Gryffindor, and, might I add, as the daughter of a Weasley and son of a Potter I wouldn't expect anything less of you. Therefore, Professor McGonagall if it is alright with you they will be placed in your house," he said turning to the silent transfiguration teacher.

"Yes of course Headmaster."

"Thank you, professor. Now your names are, I'm afraid, a bit conspicuous so if you have any suggestions now would be a good time to make them. I advise that it might be easiest to just change your last names."

Harry and Ginny sat in thought, perhaps more accurately Ginny was in thought, Harry had absolutely no idea what he would call himself other than Harry Potter.

"How about Harry James and Ginevra Granger? Then all Harry has to do is drop the Potter and I will just use Hermione's last name it has got to be easier than trying to remember anything else." Dumbledore smiled approvingly at Ginny.

"That's settled then," Dumbledore said clapping his hands together in a satisfactory gesture.

"I will go now and make the necessary arrangements," Professor McGonagall said, smiling briefly at the two teenagers and nodding her head at Dumbledore, before turning and leaving the infirmary.

"All that remains now, is deciding what to do with you until the new term starts in a couple of days. I think it would be best if you were to remain here in the hospital wing, that way you remain here under the care of Madame Pomfrey, and keep out of the way of staff, the less they know about you the better." Professor Dumbledore paused, looking at Ginny then Harry. "I also ask that you not go wandering the corridors at night, not even in an invisibility cloak." Harry smiled sheepishly under the gaze of Professor Dumbledore. Harry wondered how it was he was still able to know what Harry was thinking even without using occlumency.

"I am sorry, you have probably heard it a hundred times, but I must say, Mr Potter, that you look extraordinarily like your father and those eyes, they can only belong to one person, Lily Evans I presume?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Harry.

"Yes, sir," Harry said finally finding his voice. Dumbledore sighed happily, his eyes twinkling and Harry swore he heard him say 'ah yes, young love'.

"Well, you are going to cause quite a stir when the rest of the school arrives; unfortunately there is not much we can do to change your appearance."

"What about glamour charms or polyjuice potion or something?" Harry asked.

"Polyjuice is not appropriate because that requires you changing into a real person and you can't keep that up for a whole year, it would be too suspicious drinking a potion on the hour every hour."

"It's been done before," Harry muttered, remembering his fourth year defence professor.

"And glamour charms," Dumbledore continued as if he hadn't heard Harry. "They too wear off after a while, and it can do permanent damage if a witch or wizard is under its effects for long periods of time. No, I think that it is best if we just keep you looking as you are. If anyone asks, you can just tell them that it must just be a coincidence."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied.

"I will go and leave you two to rest. Try not to bother Madame Pomfrey too much."

"We won't," Harry and Ginny agreed. Dumbledore gave them one more smile and swept out of the room.

That was it, it was final, in just a few days Harrywas going tomeet his parents for the first time in living memory.

"Ginny," Harry said, tearing his eyes away from the door through which the headmaster had just exited. "I think this whole time travel thing is going to be a lot harder than I thought."

* * *

A/N: Sorry, it wasn't as long as I had hoped but it seemed like the right place to stop. I will try and update as soon as I can, but I have a med school admission exam coming up and I really need to study for it, so no guarantees. Anyway, thank you for all of your kind reviews, they make my day. - Liz 


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

A little while after Dumbledore had left, Harry and Ginny were laying in their beds and staring at the ceiling. They hadn't been like that for longwhen Ginny commented that Harry was in his usual bed, something that Harry hadn't noticed until she pointed it out. They had both chuckled about it at the time, making jokes about how it should be engraved with his name, but it only served to remind Harry of all the terrible memories that the sight of the hospital wing brought back; his first meeting with Voldemort, the night the traitor escaped, the night in the graveyard, as well as many others. He knew, however, that if he was going to stay in the hospital wing until the start of the school term then he should push these images into the back of his mind and forget about them.

He had tried and for the most part he was successful, during the day anyway. At night, his subconscious tormented him with the horrors of his past. He would wake up in a cold sweat, the sheets and blankets twisted around his body from his tossing and turning, and Ginny softly running her hand through his hair trying to calm him down. At first he had shrunk backfrom her comfort, unwilling for her to see him so weak. But she had stubbornly refused to stop, and eventually he relented and quietly enjoyed her ministrations. Neither had brought up the subject of Harry's nightmares. Ginny never asked about them, and Harry never offered up the information. He knew that she would just be there beside him in a silent show of support, and he was grateful. No one had ever done that for him before. It was almost motherly, a trait that she had obviously picked up from her mother, and something that Harry had never experienced. To think of his Aunt Petunia as the mothering sort was almost laughable, unless, of course, you were Dudley.

During the days leading up to the start of term, Harry and Ginny would spend their days playing various sorts of wizarding games, as well as reading the textbooks that McGonagall had given them soon after their arrival. Apart from being massively bored, they had both wanted to be sure that they were not behind in their studies.

"That's not right!" Ginny exclaimed one morning, looking up from her 'Third Edition Standard Book of Spells Grade Six' by Miranda Goshawk. Harry, who had been reading 'A Practical Application Guide for Defense Against the Dark Arts' by Rudolfo Aggini, looked over at the frustrated red-head.

"What's not right?" Harry asked.

"It's some of these spells. Some of them I haven't even heard of because they haven't been used in such a long time. There is a locking spell in here that no one uses anymore, because half the time it doesn't work. We use another one now. It mustn't have been invented yet!" Harry gave her a confused look.

"So?" Ginny rolled her eyes in response.

"So," Ginny responded as she stood up and began to flick through the book."What other spells haven't been invented yet. _Protego_? _Alohamora_? _Expecto Patronum_? Harry what happens if we use a spell that no one knows yet. People could think we are dark wizards. These are dark times Harry and people are afraid of things they don't understand or can't explain," Ginny explained, beginning to panic.

"Well this book has both _expecto patronum_ and _protego_, so we're ok there," Harry said lightly, hoping to relax her a little bit. Apparently it didn't work. The look on Ginny's face was so reminiscent of her mother that Harry could have almost sworn that it was Mrs Weasley.

"I-I did notice a few things, as I was reading. That some things were missing or changed. I also noticed, that about half of this stuff we covered last year. They must have changed the curriculum slightly," he paused thinking for a moment before continuing. "I think that we should just deal with those things when they become an issue. We're bound to make mistakes, we just have to be careful not to make too many." Ginny sighed, relaxing slightly.

"You're right," she said flopping down on her bed.

"I know," Harry said with all the sincerity that he could muster. Ginny laughed and sat up smiling.

"Modest, aren't you?" she said sarcastically. Harry only pulled a face in response. "Mature Harry, very mature," Ginny rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book.

* * *

They day of September the first dawned dreary and gray. Exhausted from another night of nightmares, a part of Harry was relieved that he no longer had to stay in the hospital wing. The other part filled him with a tremendous sense of dread. He had suddenly felt himself incapable of eating anything. 

"Harry you have to eat something, or you will collapse in the middle of the great hall. Talk about making an entrance, everyone will call you 'The Boy Who Collapsed'," Ginny said waving a piece of toast under Harry's nose. Begrudgingly, Harry took it and began to nibble at the corner, scowling at Ginny's satisfied expression.

They spent the remainder of the day packing up their things, and playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess (which, after five losses in a row, Harry refused to play anymore). They had also tried to study, but Harry havingread the same passage twelve times finally gave up. His nerves were turning his stomach into jelly. As the sun began to set, Harry and Ginny changed into their robes and then sat side by side on Harry's bed, waiting.

After about half an hour, Professor McGonagall entered.

"The carriages are nearly here, you can meet you fellow students in the entrance hall. Have you packed up all of your things?" Harry and Ginny nodded. "Good, leave them here, I will get a house elf to take them to your rooms. Follow me," she said, turning and walking towards the entrance hall. "The Headmaster will introduce you after the first years have been sorted. I remind you not to mention anything about where you are from, and you must especially not give anyone hints," She stopped walking and turned to look at Harry. "No matter how much you may want to." Harry looked back at the Professor, who gave him a small smile,and for a moment he felt that he was back at Dumbledore Manor, having one of his many long conversations with his head of house. Harry had enjoyed those conversations where she had ceased to be Professor McGonagall and was just Minerva, and he was no longer Mr Potter, and was just Harry.

"Professor? How much were you told about who my parents are?" Harry asked. Professor McGonagall gave a small smile.

"We weren't told anything. However, Potter and Weasley aren't exactly unknown names here at Hogwarts. I have made many guesses, based on my knowledge and observations. Miss Weasley here is the daughter of one of the Weasley brothers, and she is the spitting image of Miss Molly Prewett, who I hear is married to Mr Arthur Weasley. Am I right?" she asked. Ginny gave a slight nod of the head. "And you, Mr Potter look identical to Mr James Potter, except your eyes, you must have-,"

"My mother's eyes," Harry said finishing her sentence.

"Yes and from what I have seen of you so far I also assume that you have inherited your mother's disposition," Ginny coughed as discreetly as she could trying to stop the laughter that was trying to escape. "My best guess would be that James finally wins Lily Evans over." Harry smiled and nodded, and Professor McGonagall tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile.

"It that all you know?" Harry asked curiously, and immediately McGonagall stopped smiling.

"Yes, why?"

"No reason," Harry replied, and began walking towards the entrance hall, Professor McGonagall and Ginny followed on behind him.

* * *

The noise of the students making their way from the carriages into the entrance hall was deafening. Not to mention someone had let off a whole lot of Filibuster Fireworks, which were now whizzing through the air, bouncing off the walls. The portraits ran from their frames, holding their arms over their heads in a poor form of protection. 

"Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, my office now!" McGonagall yelled, ducking in time to miss a firework go sailing over her head. Harry and Ginny, who stood to the side of McGonagall at the top of the staircase leading up to the first floor corridor, watched as four figures emerged from the crowd, and made their way up the steps towards them. Harry froze as for the first time in his living memory, he came face to face with his father.

James was a couple of inches taller than Harry and was slightly larger in build. Apart from the difference in eye colour and the presence of a scar on Harry's forehead, Harry had to admit, it was like looking into the mirror. The two Potters stood staring at each other, both in shock and seemingly incapable of moving. The stared at each other for what felt like hours by must have only been a couple of seconds because –

"Oofh!" James landed on top of Harry.

"Sirius!" James growled, rolling off of a stunned Harry.

"Sorry, James," Sirius said holding a hand out to help James up. "I wasn't watching…" he trailed off as he looked from James to Harry and back again, before promptly letting go of James' hand, sending him back to the floor.

"Ow! Watch it will you?" James asked, accepting Remus' offered hand. Sirius was still looking at Harry, who seemed to be overwhelmed by the reappearance of his late godfather.

Ginny sensing Harry's discomfort, help him up off the floor, and pinched his arm trying to get him to snap out of his daze.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked, curiously. Harry looked at the four familiar faces and found himself unable to speak. Professor McGonagall, who had been watching Harry's reaction with interest, stepped in and saved him from having to answer.

"This is Mr Harry James and Miss Ginerva Granger-"

"Ginny," Ginny interrupted. Professor McGonagall looked at her, before turning back to the marauders.

"They are new this year, and I had hoped that a head boy and a prefect would have tried to set a better example, however, I should have known better. Now, I want to see the four of you in my office right now. Professor Flitwick will have to greet and sort the first years. Miss Evans!" She called out, and a startled red-head walked towards her from the centre of the crowd. "Miss Evans, could you please show Mr James and Miss Granger, here to the Gryffindor table."

"Certainly, Professor," Lily said smiling at the new students, whilst Professor led the Marauders towards her office.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she said holding a hand out to Ginny and then Harry. When Lily looked at Harry she did a double take, and glanced over his shoulder at the retreating back of James Potter.

"Are you related to James Potter?" she asked curiously.

"No," Harry replied, cringing at the unusual pitch his voice had taken. "I don't think so," he said more normally.

"It's funny, you just look amazingly like him."

Ginny seeing where the topic was headed, changed it.

"Hi, I'm Ginny Granger and this is my friend Harry James."

"Pleased to meet you," Lily said smiling and leading them down the stairs into the less crowded Entrance Hall. "So what school are you from?" she asked curiously.

"Ah, we were home schooled," Ginny replied.

"So you've never been to a magic school before?" Ginny shook her head. Lily turned and smiled at both of them. "Well then, you are in for the time of your life." She walked towards the doors that led to the Great Hall and entered. She stopped just inside the doors and turned to them and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts."

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for all of the kind reviews. I do appreciate them very much. I am very sorry that this chapter is so short, but I just felt that it was the best place to end it. 

Someone asked me about my interpretation of Snape back in chapter three, and I think that reason I wrote Snape so remorseful was that I felt that Dumbledore was a bit of a mentor for Snape as well as Harry and that deep down he understood the pain that Harry was going through, a connection that they both shared. Though I doubt he intentionally meant to be so polite to Harry, I think that killing Dumbledore had a strong effect on Snape. That doesn't mean to say, however, that he won't be back to his greasy self in the future.

My exam is in two weeks and I am starting to get stressed! Anyway, my next chapter won't be out until after the exam is over, because that's when I will have time to write. Thanks for reading! - Lizzie


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, JPLE, RWHG & RLNT The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

A/N: There are probably thousands of these, so I'm just going to toss mine onto the pile. This is my first Harry Potter Fic, and only my second WIP so any constructive criticism is welcome. May be a little OOC, but I try very hard not to!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

The Great Hall was at its magical best; thousands of candles floating over the tables, the flags of each of the houses flying high over their respective tables and the hundreds of students that were chatting eagerly about their summer holidays. Everything seemed the same as it was back in 1997.

Lily led them over to the Gryffindor table and took a seat across from a girl Harry recognized to be a younger Alice Longbottom. Harry found himself wishing Neville could see his mother like this.

"Harry, Ginny, this is my friend Alice. Alice, this is Harry and Ginny, they are new," Lily introduced them.

"Hi," Alice said.

"Hello," Harry and Ginny replied. They had only just taken their seats, when a younger Professor Flitwick walked into the Great Hall, followed by a large group of first years, all of whom were taller than him.

The sorting ceremony remained the same too, Harry noted as he watched Marta Binkey head towards the Ravenclaw table. He turned his attention the staff table. Professor Flitwick the charms professor, Professor Sprout the herbology teacher, a fully limbed Professor Kettleburn the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Slughorn the Potions Master, and Dumbledore were the only teachers he recognised.

As Hilbert Tothey was sorted into Hufflepuff, the side door to the Hall opened. Harry turned to look at who was entering and his stomach gave a small jump, when a huge form entered the hall. Hagrid gave the hall a sheepish grin and headed towards his seat at the staff table. A grin plastered itself acrossHarry's face, as he gazed at his first ever magical friend.

As the sorting came to a close, Dumbledore stood up, and the chatter died down completely.

"As I am sure you are all famished, I will try to keep my notices short. Firstly the first years, and those in other years, would do well to note that the forest is forbidden to all students. And as last year saw the retirement of our caretaker Mr Pringle, I am pleased to introduce our new caretaker, Mr Filch," Dumbledore paused for a half-hearted round of applause before continuing. Harry groaned, causing Ginny to giggle quietly beside him. "Mr Filch would like me to remind you not to use magic in the corridors between classes and that the list of forbidden items can be found on the door of his office. Also, as Professor Hastings had to leave us at the end of last year, we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, please make welcome Professor Dearborn" Dumbledore paused once again for a quick round of applause. Harry glanced at the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. He looked vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

"Lastly, I would like to make a welcome to two new students who will be attending Hogwarts this year. Mr Harry James and Miss Ginevra Granger will be joining Gryffindor house and as they are new I expect everyone to make them feel welcome." A polite round of applause filled the hall as students craned their necks to get a look at the two new students.

"Let the feast begin," Dumbledore said, waving his hands. As he did so, food appeared on the plates in the centre of the table, and everyone forgot about the new students, as they began to tuck in. Harry sat staring around the hall, everything seemed so familiar, yet at the same time completely diffeerent.

"Come on Harry, you need to eat," Ginny said, shoveling food onto his plate. Harry watched her pile mashed potatoes, roast beef, chicken legs, peas, sweet potatoes and mint humbugs, among many other things. He was very much reminded of Mrs Weasley, and he felt a small pang of homesickness.

"Hem, hem." Harry jumped, when the person seating on the other side of him cleared her throat, he was immediately reminded of Umbridge. Harry turned to see the smiling face of his mother.

"Are you ok?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said quickly.

"It's ok, I felt a bit homesick on my first night too. It's a daunting place at first." Little did Lily know that to Harry Hogwarts was home and that he wasn't so much homesick, rather timesick. He missed Ron and Hermione, the Weasley's, his housemates, and the Remus of his time. Sure these people were his parents and their friends, but he didn't know them, even Remus and Sirius seem different, but most importantly they didn't know him.

"I'll be alright," Harry said giving Lily a small smile.

Harry, Ginny, Lily and Alice had just started to eat, when the doors to the Great Hall burst open, and in walked the four marauders. Harry heard Lily groan as James made his way down the Hall and took a seat on the other side of her as Remus, Peter and Sirius sat next to Alice on the other side of the table.

"Hello Lily, and everyone else," James greeted, as he began to pile food onto his plate.

"Potter," Lily replied, watching as James added a mound of potato next to his stack of roast beef. "Are you trying to feed an army?" Lily asked him curiously.

"I am, Evans, a growing man and I need sustenance."

"Uh-huh," Lily replied, turning back to her own plate.

"So, you're new?" Sirius asked, looking at Harry and Ginny. "It's strange just how much you look like James," he said looking at Harry.

"His eyes are different," Remus said staring into Harry's eyes. "But they do look familiar though," he continued thoughtfully. Harry lowered his eyes. He knew if anyone could work it out, it would be Remus.

"He's a bit scrawnier than James, and not as tall," Sirius added.

"He's also got a scar on his forehead," Peter pointed out through a mouth full of peas.

"I am sitting right here you know," Harry muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Harry, I'm sorry about them, there really is no excuse for them," Lily said giving Harry an encouraging smile.

"Hey, now that is not nice, Lily" James said.

"But it is so true," Alice agreed.

"I'm Remus Lupin," Remus introduced himself, and Harry noticed that his face had no where near the number of scars that it held in his time, and he looked younger and a lot more cheerful.

"Sirius Black," Sirius smiled a goofy grin at them.

"Peter Pettigrew," the small boy said. Harry fought with all of his might not to do or say anything he would regret. Ginny place her hand on his knee under the table, and squeezed lightly.

"And I'm James Potter." James said leaning forward past Lily to see the newcomers.

James was staring at Harry, and Harry shifted in his seat under the uncomfortable scrutiny.

"The resemblance is uncanny," Remus said looking from James to Harry and back again.

"Maybe you're related," Sirius suggested.

"I'm an only child and so is my dad, but maybe," James said. "Are we related?" he asked Harry.

"I-I uh I don't think so," Harry answered, nervously.

"Where did you go to school?" Remus asked, curiously.

"We were both home schooled. With the war and everything, my parents wanted to keep us at home, especially after what happened to Harry's parents. Only this year, the ministry asked them to help with the war effort, so we were sent here."

"What happened to Harry's parents?" Peter asked with a strange look on his face. Ginny glanced at Harry, before softly replying.

"They died a long time ago."

"How did- ow!" Peter began but was stopped by a large kick in the shin from Lily.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said softly, then turned and glared at Peter across the table.

In that moment Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to burst out laughing or breakdown into tears. It was surreal to hear his mother empathising with him over her own death.

"It's ok," he managed to say. "It happened a long time ago. I barely remember them."

Surprisingly, it was James that decided to steer the conversation away from an obviously difficult subject for the new student.

"Well, welcome to Hogwarts," he said giving each of them a smile.

"Thank you," Ginny and Harry replied.

"So, Harry, do you play quidditch?" Sirius asked, soaking his roast beef in gravy.

Harry was greatly relieved at the change in topic of conversation, especially since it was a topic that he greatly enjoyed.

"Yeah, a bit," Harry replied.

"A bit! You were the youngest seeker-" Ginny stopped abruptly. She had nearly said the youngest seeker Hogwarts had seen in a century. "… in the… uh… local competition we have," she finished lamely. Everyone looked at her curiously, but let it go.

"So you play seeker? That's brilliant we need a seeker this year. Barnaby left last year, so we are holding tryouts, you should come along, tryout," James said.

"Sure," Harry said.

"Urgh, what's with boys and quidditch?" Lily asked.

"You just don't understand the excitement and adrenaline rush you get when playing," James said. "You need to learn to fly, I'll teach you," he offered.

"No, thank you I like to keep my feet on the ground," she replied sounding a lot like Hermione did every time Ron tried to convince her to go flying. "Do you like quidditch, Ginny?" Lily asked.

"Ginny's plays chaser on our team. She's brilliant too!" Ginny flushed at Harry's praise.

"Well, with six older brothers, all but one of whom is quidditch obsessed, it's hard not to be." James and Sirius looked positively thrilled, that both Harry and Ginny not only liked quidditch, but played it too.

"We don't have a free chaser spot on the team, but I can have a look at your flying, and maybe you can be a reserve."

"Thanks," Ginny replied earnestly, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "So what's school like?" For the rest of the meal, they talked about the classes and the teachers, who to stay clear of and whose class everyone fell asleep in.

Apparently not much had changed Binns' History of Magic class was just as boring as it always was. Professor McGonagall was still as strict as ever, and Slughorn still favoured certain students over others. Harry found himself enjoying the steady stream of conversation flowing around him. It almost seemed like he was back in his own time, almost but not quite.

* * *

"Harry?" a voice called out, gently shaking his shoulder. Tossing and turning, the boy on the bed showed no signs of waking. 

"Maybe we should tip a bucket of water over his head?" someone suggested.

"No, he's having a nightmare, that could be detrimental," another voice spoke up.

"Do you reckon it's about his parents?"

"…no! Cedric! Cedric!"

"I don't think so, unless he calls his parents by their first names." Harry continued to murmur in his sleep.

"Come on Harry, you're having a nightmare. Wake up."

"No, no, come back! Stop it, I have to help him. Let go of me! No! Sir-," the bedroom door opened with a bang, distracting the marauders from the writhing boy on the bed.

Ginny ran to Harry's bedside, pulling him to her gently, running her hand through his hair, as Harry continued to mumble unintelligibly.

"Shhhh Harry, come on now, it's just a dream," she said softly, as she continued to stroke his hair. The other four boys stood around and watched as Harry calmed down then opened his eyes slowly. Ginny continued her ministrations until he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. She gently laid him back down, and brushed his fringe off of his forehead, and ran her finger over his vivid scar. It was warm to the touch, and she frowned slightly, it only got like that when Voldemort was in a particularly nasty mood, or really close by. Thinking that she would deal with it tomorrow, she stood up from the bed, and pulled the curtains back around, blocking Harry from view. She cast a silencing spell around the bed, so that if Harry had another dream it would not wake the boys.

Heading towards the door she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"What just happened?" James asked.

"He just had a nightmare, that's all," she said quietly.

"Yeah, but how did you know about it, he wasn't yelling that loundly?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know how, but I just always seem to know whenever Harry is having a nightmare."

"What are his nightmares about?" Peter asked. "He kept calling out to Cedric, who's that?" Ginny glanced at the overly curious boy.

"Cedric was a friend of Harry's that was killed by You-know-who."

"Why is he having nightmares?" James asked. Ginny looked painfully up at the commanding figure of Harry's father.

"Harry has seen more things than most people will see in a lifetime. His parents were some of the early victims of You-know-who's, they had been trying to fight him. Cedric was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Harry blames himself for his Godfather's death, after they were ambushed by death eaters. Harry hasn't had an easy life, and his nightmares are a testament to that."

"How often does he have them?" Remus asked.

"They are unpredictable. Sometimes nightly, sometimes he can go a whole month without having one. In the morning, I will remind him to cast a silencing charm. He's used to sharing a room with my brother, who is accustomed to them. I'm sorry that he woke you," Ginny said, turning and heading for the door.

"No." Ginny turned back to see a stony faced James. "Don't tell him to cast a silencing charm. He shouldn't have to deal with this all alone." Ginny smiled softly at James.

"He shouldn't, but he will anyway. He will be mortified in the morning to know that you witnessed his weakness, so I would appreciate it if you didn't bring it up." The four boys nodded. "Thank you. I should get back to bed. Good night."

After Ginny's departure, the Marauders listened to Harry's heavy breathing for a moment, before silently heading towards their own bed. As he crawled beneath the sheets, James Potter decided that if Harry wanted to deal with his issues on his own that was fine, as long as he didn't mind some help along the way.

* * *

When Harry awoke the next morning, it was to complete and utter silence. He rolled over and memories from the middle of the night flooded his head. He'd had a nightmare the usual one's Sirius' and Cedric's deaths. Harry took a deep breath, and a floral scent filled his nostrils, Ginny. Harry's cheeks burned as he vaguely remembered that Ginny had come to help him. He must have been making a lot of noise if Ginny had heard. Wordlessly and wandlessly he reversed the silencing spell, and the noise of the rooms other occupants reached his ears. 

"Ouch, Wormtail that was my foot," he heard James cry.

"Sorry," came the mumbled reply.

"Should someone wake up Sirius and Harry?" Remus asked.

"I've got Sirius," James said, and moments later Harry heard the unmistakable splash of water and a loud cry.

"Potter!" Deciding that he definitely didn't want to be splashed with water, Harry fought back the embarrassment of last night and opened his curtains.

"Morning Harry, might want to hurry up, we've got to get down to breakfast if we want to make it to class on time," James said. The others greeted him, then went back to their usual banter, as though last night never happened. Harry was taken aback slightly, he had thought that they would want to know what had happened. He quickly dressed and grabbed his school bag, stuffing his books, parchment and quills inside. He caught a glance of his hair in the mirror and subconsciously ran a hand through it to try and fix it.

"If it's anything like mine, and it looks like it is, that hair is never going to lay down flat." Harry jumped at the sound of his father's voice behind him. "Here try this," James reached up and ran his hands through Harry's hair. Harry suppressed a shiver that wanted to run down his spine. "There, perfect." Harry turned to look in the mirror and saw that his hair was sticking up in all different directions, just like James' did. "I always say, 'you've got to work with what you've got' and if your hair wants to be wild then why not go all the way." Harry turned back to the mirror and was reminded of another mirror, one that had showed the ghostly images of his family, but this image was all too real. Harry felt a lump in his throat, and felt himself incapable of speech, instead he simply nodded and smiled.

"Listen, about last night. I know your probably embarrassed or what ever, but Ginny said that you had seen things that we could never even imagine, and that's why you get nightmares. I just want you to know that we are here for you, if you ever want to... you know...talk to any of us," James ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Well, I wouldn't go to Peter, the bloke is great at sneaking around when pulling pranks, but dead useless when you need advice," he chuckled, and Harry forced a small laugh.

"Thanks," Harry replied, genuinely thankful.

"No problem, now last one down to the common room is a warty toad." Harry grabbed his back pack off the bed and raced James down to the common room.

Although he lost, mainly because James' bigger frame blocked the stair well so that Harry, as small as he was, couldn't squeeze through, Harry entered the common room with a large smile on his face. Spying Ginny waiting for him at the portrait hole, he hurried over to her.

"You look positively chipper, this morning," she commented, relieved to see Harry in such a good mood.

"Thank you for last night," he whispered softly.

"You're welcome," she replied, lifting her hand up to fix Harry's messy hair.

"Ah-uh, no touching the hair," Harry said batting her hand away. "If it's going to insist on being messy, then why not go with it?" Harry asked, looking over towards his father, who had been watching them. James winked at Harry, and Ginny caught the exchange.

"Why not, indeed," She said smiling at him.

"You know what?" Harry asked, leading her out of the portrait hole.

"What?" Ginny replied.

"I think I'm going to like 1977."

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone, thank you for all the wonderful, wonderful reviews. My Med-School test is over as well as my mid-semesters (mid-terms), and I am on holidays for the next week so, hopefully, I will have some time for writing. (I say this, but unfortunately life has this annoying habit of getting in the way.) But I will try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Thank for reading! - Lizzie 


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Breakfast that morning was noisy, as students discussed their timetables and the upcoming day. Lily, Alice, Harry, Ginny and the Marauders were seated half way along the long table, stuffing themselves with bacon, eggs, sausages and toast. Professor McGonagall made her way along the Gryffindor table, handing out timetables.

"Oh great, double potions this morning," James said, staring at the time table in front of him.

"That's not too bad," Lily said, nodding approvingly at her timetable, and for a moment Harry was strongly reminded of Hermione.

"Yeah, well, that's because your Slughorn's favourite, aren't you?" Sirius grumbled, stuffing his timetable inside his bag.

"I am not-," Lily began.

"Yes you are," James replied. "He's always going on about you. 'Miss Evans this' and 'Miss Evans that' and 'Why doesn't you potion look more like Miss Evans', Mr Potter?'. Honestly, I think he's in love with you."

"James!" Lily cried indignantly.

"Slughorn's got his favourites in every year," Remus said nibbling away at the end of a sausage. "Apparently it's called the 'Slug Club'."

"What do you have, Ginny?" Lily asked, steering the conversation away from their potions teacher.

"I've got charms first, then care of magical creatures," Ginny said, looking over her timetable.

"That's not too bad," James advised.

"What's on this afternoon?" Peter asked.

"Defence, a chance to check out the fresh meat," Sirius said with a maniacal grin.

"Fresh meat?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, a new teacher," James replied.

"People say the position is cursed," Alice said.

"Cursed?" Harry asked, faking curiosity.

"Yep, no one has ever held the position longer than a year," Remus said, glancing up at Professor Dearborn.

"Why what happens?" Ginny asked.

"Changes ever year, one was killed by death eaters, another was a death eater that was discovered by the ministry, one mysteriously disappeared and two more left because they couldn't handle the pressure." Lily answered. Remus looked at his watch.

"Come on, we better be going, or we will be late for class." Together they got up and headed out of the hall.

Remembering Harry's nightmare from the night before, Ginny grabbed Harry's elbow and pulled him aside.

"Harry, is your scar hurting?"

"Well it is twinging a bit, but it always does that."

"What about last night?"

"Yeah, it hurt last night, but I had one of my nightmares again. It always hurts when I have a nightmare." Ginny stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"Harry, our Voldemort is twenty years in the future, how could he be affecting you now?" Harry turned to look at Ginny in realisation.  
"I don't know. I didn't even think about it. I guess I am used to it," he said nervously running his finger over his scar. "Do you think it's the Voldemort of this time, or the Voldemort of our time?"

"I have absolutely no idea. The only person who might know is Dumbledore."

"We can't go talk to him, he's not supposed to know."

"I know," Ginny said quietly.

"Harry!" James called from the other side of the entrance hall. "We're going to be late, hurry up!"

"We'll talk about it later," Harry said, heading off to follow his father. "Will you be alright?" Ginny turned around and spotted a girl from her dorm.

"Julie!" Ginny called, and the girl turned around. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you later," Ginny said hurrying off to walk with Julie to class. Harry watched her go, before racing off after James.

* * *

Potions with Slughorn was just as Harry remembered, except that instead of having the Half-blood Prince's notes, he was partnered with the Half-blood Prince himself. Snape had scowled when Harry had been assigned his partner, and while he had only spoken to him in cold tones, his voice held none of the malice towards Harry that his older self did. 

It had been obvious from the first moment, that Snape was a brilliant potion brewer. Twice in the first ten minutes, he had stopped Harry from doing something that could have potentially blown up the dungeon. At the end of the lesson, their potion was one of the best in the class, matchedonly by Lily and Remus', whose potion Slughorn claimed was the best even though the two potions looked identical. The class cleaned up their workbenches and packed away their books. Snape didn't glance at Harry as he left the classroom, and a moment later James and Sirius walked up behind him.

"We're sorry you had to work with Snivellus," James said clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Yeah, especially on your first day," Sirius agreed coming up on Harry's other side.

"It was fine," Harry replied a little uncomfortably.

"He really needs to wash his hair though," Sirius commented.

"I know, I wonder if he has ever washed it?" James wondered as they headed towards the Great Hall.

Harry uncomfortably listened to James and Sirius' conversation. It was because of their ridicule that the Snape of Harry's time hated him so much. Harry guessed that if his father knew how much his teasing of Snape was going to affect his son in the future then he would never have done it, but, unfortunately for Harry, James didn't know.

"How's your day going so far?" a voice spoke up from beside him. Harry turned to see the amber eyes of his young defence professor staring at him.

"Alright," Harry replied. "I'm not that good at potions though."

"Oh, me neither, I can never seem to get them right," Remus admitted. "If it wasn't for Lily I would be failing potions."

"She seems nice," Harry said watching his mother talking to Alice and another girl further down the corridor.

"She's lovely, she's the sort of person who won't give up on you, even when you've given up on yourself."

"She sounds like she is a great friend."

"She is, and unlike others that I am friends with, she much prefers to stick to the rules," Remus glanced over his shoulder. Harry's eyes followed Remus' gaze in time to see Sirius do a dramatic impression of someone tripping over. Harry had the sinking feeling that that person was Snape.

"They're not all bad though," Remus said turning back to face Harry. "They are the most loyal friends you will ever find and great for a laugh when you're feeling a bit down."

Walking through the doors to the great hall, Harry spotted Ginny talking to a girl from her year, and Harry and the Marauders wandered over towards her.

"Hey Gin," Harry said climbing over to sit beside her.

"Hey Harry, how was your morning?" she asked, keenly aware of everyone listening in on their conversation.

"It was ok, I wasn't very good at potions, but my partner was, so we managed to pass."

"Who was your partner?" Ginny asked.

"Snivellus," Sirius muttered darkly.

"Who?" Ginny asked feigning ignorance.

"Severus Snape," Lily said sitting down in the empty seat next to Remus.

"I don't think I've met him," Ginny replied.

"You wouldn't have, he's in Slytherin house," James replied.

"The biggest prat ever, if you ask me," Sirius said, taking a large bite out of his sandwich.

"Well then it's a good thing no one asked you," Lily huffed. "Severus is perfectly nice."

"Only to you," James said venomously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily said heatedly, as their group began to draw the attention of the other students in the hall.

"You're the only person outside of his own house that he will talk to, and I just find it strange because he hangs around with that muggle-hating group, you know the death-eaters-in-training."

"So?" Lily cried.

"So, you are muggle-born, aren't you?" James yelled. The lowering his voice he continued, "It's obvious he is using you, only I can't work out for what."

"I am perfectly able to look after myself, thank you very much," Lily hissed across the table at James. "Did you ever think that there might be another reason he hangs around with them other than he wants to? That maybe he is being forced to?" she asked, as she grabbed her book bag and headed for the doors. Alice, who had been sitting next to her, glared at James, before getting up and following her friend out of the hall.

James sat, staring at the seat which Lily had vacated only moments earlier. She was right of course, he hadn't thought of Snape being forced to hang around with those other students, but that still didn't stop him from being a git. James, frustrated, jumped up from the table, mumbled something about seeing them later, and rushed out of the hall.

It appeared to Harry that most of the group, in fact, most of the school were used to James and Lily's fights, as none of them seemed to blink an eye, but Harry just sat there dumbfounded. It was the first time he could ever recallhearing his parents fight. A few weeks ago, Harry would have traded in his firebolt and every galleon he owned to witness a fight between his father and his mother, now however, it made him uneasy. It wasn't just the fact that it was about Snape of all people, but more the fact that it made his future just that little bit more uncertain. 'What if they don't get together?' he wondered.

"Sorry about them, they're always getting into a tiff. Actually, I'm amazed they lasted until today," Remus said, calmly taking another bite of his sandwich.

"I still don't know how he could like her," Sirius said. "She drives him barmy."

"'My only love sprung from my only hate,'" Remus quoted.

"That sounds like Shakespeare again," Sirius moaned.

"It is," Remus replied. "Romeo and Juliet, the ultimate tragic love story."

"Remus, you read way too much," Peter spoke up.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do, you're always quoting something from a book," Sirius agreed.

"Well at least I don't recite every single quidditch statistic ever recorded," Remus replied heatedly.

"What's wrong with quidditch?" Sirius asked, his angel flaring.

"What's wrong with reading?" Remus, yelled back. They both stared at each other from across the table, until Remus couldn't take it anymore, and after gathering up his books, he left.

Sirius sat down in a huff and Ginny and Harry looked at each other awkwardly. That had been unexpected.

"Sorry 'bout that," Sirius muttered, taking a large gulp of pumpkin juice. Seeing their worried faces, he added. "This happens all of the time. By the end of defence, everything will be alright again, you'll see. We should probably get going. Come on Pete."

"What do you have now?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Ancient Runes,"

"Sounds fun," Harry replied skeptically.

"It's actually really interesting," Ginny said smiling at him, then her face turned serious. "We need to talk tonight, about everything."

"Ok, after last class, down by the lake."

"Sure, I will see you then."

"See you," Harry replied as he watched her head over to a girl from her year.

"Come on Harry," Harry heard Sirius call, and he turned and headed towards the defence classroom.

* * *

As the students poured into the classroom from lunch, chatting excitedly about their first day, they took their seats in the classroom. Harry and Sirius sat halfway towards the front of the classroom, whilst James and Remus sat at the back, avoiding the glances of the others. Harry looked up towards the front and was surprised to note that the new professor had yet to arrive. An uneasy feeling began to stir within Harry. He felt as though he was being watched. He looked around to room, and none of his classmates were looking at him. Turning back towards the front, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. 

Harry sensed the movement before he heard the words, and instinctively his guard went up.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego," Harry was ready with the shield charm which easily blocked the stunner that had been sent his way.

"Very good, Mr James, ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Dearborn said stepping forwards from the shadows and removing the disillusionment charm he had placed on himself. "It is very unusual to find those reflexes in one so young. I am impressed; you must have had a good teacher?" he asked. Harry nodded quickly, feeling the stares of his classmates.

"Good afternoon seventh years, my name is Professor Dearborn, and I will be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, and my goal this year is to prepare you for any dark arts that you will be likely to face. Unfortunately my original _stunning_ introduction to the class was somewhat diminished by Mr James over there, however, he did provided a perfect example of how I want you all to be by the end of this year. Come June, I want you to be aware of everything around you. I want you to able to recognize a potential threat. I want you to show constant vigilance, as one of my fellow aurors likes to say." Harry smiled at the thought of old Mad-Eye Moody.

"We will be studying dark creatures and how to deal with them first, followed by dark curses and how to counter them, then lastly we will be studying the mind of a dark wizard and how to protect yourself. This class is not going to be easy, it's not supposed to be. Out there in the real world a dark wizard wouldn't hesitate to case a dark curse on you just because you haven't learnt the counter curse. It is a harsh world out there and my job is to be the person that best prepares you for when you leave here, and I am going to do that to the best of my ability, that I promise you."

During the professor's speech, Harry noticed that everyone in the class had sat up straighter, each one listening intently. Some nodded along, and others stared in wonderment. From everything he had seen so far, Harry thought that this new professor had seemed to be enthusiastic, a lot like Remus had been.

"Who can tell me what a dementor is?" Professor Dearborn asked, distracting Harry from his current train of thought.

"They guard Azkaban!" A voice shouted out from the back.

"Very good Mr Mahoney, but that wasn't the question I asked. Again, _what_ is a dementor?" Professor Dearborn asked again. He looked around the class, and everyone was looking at each other. Slowly, Harry raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr James?"

"They are dark creatures who can suck out your soul. Just being in their presence can drain you of every happy thought you have ever had. They are sight-less, soul-less evil creatures."

"Precisely, I couldn't have said it better myself. Take another ten points Mr James. Does anyone know how to repel a dementor?" Professor Dearborn's eyes roamed around the class, and seeing no hands up, he settled them on Harry.

"The Patronus charm," Harry sighed. Professor Dearborn nodded.

"The Patronus charm is a very difficult charm to perform, but never the less I plan on trying to teach it to you. The Patronus charm works by focusing on the strongest happy memory you can think of. When the charm is cast, a kind of silver vapour appears. As it is takes no physical body it is not affected by the dementors." The class remained silent, listening intently. "The charm is easy enough to say, I want you to repeat it after me. No wands now. Put your wand down Miss Fitzpatrick. Ready? Expecto Patronum."

"Expecto Patronum!"

"Excellent, now I want each of you to think of a happy memory, it has to be strong, very strong, or it isn't going to work."

The uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach since the beginning of the lesson grew. He knew what would happen if he cast the spell, and as fond as he was of his stag, he did not want it to make an appearance, not with the maurauders in the room. A sudden thought entered Harry's mind, if he didn't think of a happy memory, the patronus would not form.

"All right now, one at a time, starting with you Mr Black. Up the front now." Sirius stood up and strode to the front of the room.

"Expecto Patronum!" Sirius bellowed confidently.

Absolutely nothing happened. Frustrated, Sirius tried again, and still nothing happened. The class started to laugh at him, but Professor Dearborn just clapped him on the shoulder. James and Remus shot Sirius sympathetic looks, and Harry realised that in that moment, Remus and Sirius had forgiven each other and moved on.

"Nothing to worry about, I never expected you to do it. In fact, I suspect that most, if not all, of you won't be able to do it. Mr Poppernickle, if you please," the professor said gesturing to the front of the class room.

Everyone tried, and almost everyone failed. Only James had been able to produce a tiny puff of silver smoke. Then finally it was Harry's turn. He stepped up to the front and turned to face the class. He thought about the Dursley's, he thought about the deaths of Sirius and Dumbledore, anything to prevent a stag from emerging from his wand. Saying the incantation he looked over to see his father smiling encouragingly at him. Memories of earlier that day entered his mind; the talk about his hair, and the race down the stairs. A wave of happiness ran through Harry just before a great big silver light emerged from Harry's wand, so bright that most of the class had turned away to shield their eyes. After the light had disappeared, there remained a brilliant silver stag, standing tall and proud. Harry, realizing what he had done, growled at the projection,

"Go on get out of here," and the stag disappeared instantly.

Harry bowed his head to avoid the looks of the others in the class, most especially those from Remus, Peter, Sirius and above all James. Professor Dearborn seemed lost for words.

"Well Mr James, that most certainly was excellent. It was obvious that you knew a lot about dementors, and I did expect you to be able to produce a patronus, I never imagined that it would be a corporeal one. How long have you been able to cast one?"

"Four years," Harry mumbled, turning and heading back towards his desk. Professor Dearborn watched his student curiously, as he headed back to his desk. 'Why would a thirteen year old need to be able to perform a patronus charm?' he wondered. Brushing that thought aside, heturned back to the class and began to teach them the theory behind the casting of the patronus.

"That was brilliant!" Sirius whispered intoHarry'sear as he sat down. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Maybe," Harry whispered back, grateful that Sirius hadn't seemed to have notice the shape of his patronus. A quick glance at James and Remus, told him that they, however, had noticed. James looked slightly alarmed and Remus looked curiously at him. Sighing, Harry allowed his head to fall down onto the desk. It was only the first day and he had already made a huge mistake.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry about the long time between updates. I am just about to head into exam block, so don't expect another update soon. I know the defence class - patronus - maurauders storyline is overused, but I just had to include it in here. Thank you for all the reviews, you all are so kind. Happy reading! – Lizzie 


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

The wind picked up by late afternoon, and Harry found himself wishing he had put more layers on, as the chill when straight through his school robes. He sat on a rock overlooking the lake, replaying his defence class over and over in his head. If only he hadn't looked over at his father none of that would have happened. The moment class had finished, Harry had raced off, telling Sirius that he had promised to meet Ginny. "Why?" he asked out loud. "Why was I so stupid?"

"Talking to yourself again?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. Turning on the rock, he came face to face with a smiling Ginny. When she saw the serious look in his eyes, the smile immediately left her face. "What's wrong?"

"In defence we were studying dementors, and the patronus charm, and…" he trailed off staring out at the lake.

"What happened Harry?" Ginny asked, sitting down on the rock next to him.

"Professor Dearborn made everyone get up in front of the entire class and perform the charm. I had everything worked out, I was going to think of the Dursely's and Voldemort and everything else that has gone wrong in my life. If I didn't think of any happy thoughts then the charm shouldn't have worked properly, right?" Ginny shook her head. "I was standing up there thinking about Dumbledore's death and then I glance over at my father and I remembered everything that happened this morning and then suddenly there was this bright light and then there in the middle of the classroom stood my stag."

"Oh Merlin Harry, did they say anything?"

"I told them I had to meet you and ran out of there before they could ask anything. Sirius is clueless and wants me to teach him how to do it. Dad looked shocked, Wormtail looked confused and Remus looked suspicious."

"I figured if anyone was going to find out first, it would be Remus," Ginny sighed.

"Yeah, but we are here for a year, and it's only the first day."

"It's alright, Harry, together we will think of something to tell them."

Harry rubbed his forehead.

"Is it still bothering you?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"On and off all day."

"We need to talk to Dumbledore," she said standing up.

"What now?"

"Yeah now, Harry if the pain in your scar is the Voldemort from this time, then he needs to know that something is going to happen so that he can alert the order."

"But what if it's not the Voldemort of this time?"

"Are you willing to take the risk?"

"No."

"Come on, let's go."

* * *

"Maybe, it has nothing to do with anything." 

"Moony, you said it yourself, it looked exactly like me when I transform."

"What are you both talking about?" Sirius asked, trailing along behind Remus, James and Peter, as they headed towards the Gryffindor common room after class.

"Harry's patronus, didn't you recognize it?" Remus asked turning around to face him.

"I wasn't paying that close attention," Sirius admitted.

"It looked exactly like Prongs," Peter said, looking a little scared.

"It's probably just a coincidence. Professor Dearborn said that a person's patronus is usually an animal," Sirius said, proud that he had paid attention during class.

"The world is coming to an end, Sirius listened in class!" Peter exclaimed, ducking just in time to miss Sirius' swinging arm.

"Look James, why don't we just ask him? I am sure there is a reasonable explanation as to why his patronus is a stag." Sirius reasoned, as they climbed a set of stairs.

"He's right Moony, I'm sure he knows nothing about us, I mean how can he, he hasn't even been here 24 hours," James said, sounding significantly calmer than he did before.

"Then why did he rush off after the end of class, if he doesn't know, then why was he in a hurry to get away from us," Remus asked, jumping over the trick step.

"That, Moony, has a simply explanation," Sirius said, putting his arm around Remus' shoulder.

"And that is?"

"He had to meet Ginny," Sirius said smirking. "Oh to be young and in love."

"How do you know they are in love?" Peter asked.

"Because of the way he looks at her, it reminds me of the way Prongs looks at Lily."

"They're not going out, are they?" James asked.

"I don't think so, not yet, but I say give them a few months." Remus began to laugh.

"Since when did Sirius Black become an expert in love?"

"Since I met my future wife," he proclaimed.

"Oh yeah, who might that be this week? Melinda Warner?" Remus guessed. Sirius shook his head.

"Georgiana Bolstead?" Peter asked.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Fraya Puddlestern?" James tried.

"Nope, Tallulah Jacobs."

"That Ravenclaw sixth year?" Peter asked.

"Yep, that's the one."

"She will never go out with you," James said, giving the password to the Fat Lady, and entering the common room.

"Want a bet?" Sirius asked.

"Five galleons say she won't go out with you," James challenged, holding out his hand.

"You're on," Sirius said taking James' hand, before racing James up to their dorm room.

* * *

As they walked across the grounds towards the castle and up towards Dumbledore's office, Harry listened as Ginny talked about her first day. She, like Harry, had found herself slightly more advanced than the other students, but felt that it was good revision. He listened as she talked about the other students in her classes. As he listened, he thought about what he would say, if the maurauders asked him about his patronus. By the time they reached the corridor that led to the gargoyle that hid the entrance to Dumbledore's office, he still hadn't thought of anything to say. Nevertheless it soon became apparent that that was the least of his problems. With every step Harry began to grow more and more nervous. What if he said something that would change his entire future? 

"How much are we going to tell him?" Harry asked, trying his best to keep the panic out of his voice.

"I hadn't figured that part out yet," Ginny mumbled, as she came to a standstill in front of the statue.

"Got any idea of the password?" Harry asked.

"Nope, I just figured that we would try every sweet available until one worked."

"Ok, sounds like a plan," Harry said. "You first."

"Ok, ummm Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?" Ginny tried, but the statue remained still.

"Fizzing Whizbees?" Harry guessed, still no movement.

"Chocolate Frogs?"

"Acid Pops?"

"Licorice Snaps?"

"Gummy Bears?" The statue began to move revealing the hidden staircase.

"Gummy Bears?" Ginny asked, turning to Harry. He shrugged his shoulders,

"Muggle sweet," Harry explained, as they began to climb the stairs.

"Come in!" a voice called out in response to Ginny's knock. Harry and Ginny entered Dumbledore's office, to see Professor McGonagall and several official looking wizards.

"Mr James, Miss Granger, how may I help you?"

"We're sorry to intrude, we can come back another time," Harry said pulling Ginny towards the door.

"Nonsense Mr James, we were just finished. Thank you gentlemen, I trust everything said in this room is to be kept in complete confidence," Dumbledore said looking at each of the room's occupants in turn. They nodded their assent and turned and left the room, each looking at Harry and Ginny as they passed. Soon it was just Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore remaining.

"What can I do for the both of you?" Dumbledore asked smiling at them.

"We were wondering if we could speak to you privately," Ginny said glancing quickly at Professor McGonagall.

"Of course, Minerva could you please excuse us?"

"Certainly," she replied giving Ginny and Harry a quizzical look as she left the office.

"I see that you have managed to guess the password to enter my quarters. I must have trusted you a lot in the future," Dumbledore said as he sat down in the chair behind his desk, gesturing for Harry and Ginny to take a seat.

"I don't know about that sir, but we've made regular trips to your office, especially in the last couple of years," Harry said taking the offered sherbet lemon.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair observing the two students in front of him. From the silence Ginny guessed that he wasn't going to start the conversation; he was going to wait for them.

"Professor, there are some things that have been happening that normally in our time, we would bother you with, but it requires you to have all of the background knowledge, and we are unsure of what to do," Ginny started.

"Can you not take care of it yourselves?"

"We don't know," Harry said.

"You don't know?" Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You see, sir, we don't know if it is relevant to your time or ours," Ginny explained.

"And you don't know if you should tell me or not because it might affect the course of history?" Dumbledore guessed.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied.

"Is it serious? Can you tell me what it is about?" Harry looked over at Ginny, who nodded at him.

"Voldemort."

Whatever he had been expecting, Voldemort had not been it. Sitting up straighter, Dumbledore, looked over the top of his half-moon glasses at the two students before him.

"What does Voldemort have to do with you?" he asked carefully.

"Everything," Harry replied.

"Am I to trust that Voldemort is still alive in your time?"

"Yes," Harry replied, as Ginny sat back and listened. If their story was going to be told, it was Harry who was going to tell it.

"Well that is unfortunate news, I know of the power he holds now, I cannot imagine what it would be like in your time," Dumbledore paused, a genuine sadness filled his eyes. "What things have been happening that you are unsure of whether it applies to your time or mine?"

"I've been having nightmares," Harry started.

"Are you a seer, Mr Potter?"

"No," Harry replied. Dumbledore stood up and began to pace.

"The scar on your forehead. That is no ordinary scar is it?" he asked.

"No, sir," Harry replied, his hand automatically going up to pull his hair down over his fringe. Dumbledore, stopped pacing, and turned to face Harry and Ginny.

"I feel that perhaps, given the nature, it is best if you tell me, with as little detail as possible, the events of the future," he said as he returned to his seat.

Harry looked over at Ginny, who nodded her head encouragingly at him.

"Voldemort had gradually been gaining more and more followers, killing some of the best wizarding families, creating fear everywhere. Then one night, he came to our house. I was only a baby, he killed my father and then my mother, and then he turned his wand on me. Something stopped him though, and instead of killing me, the curse rebounded and hit him, not quite killing him, instead turning him into a mere shadow of his former self, and so he disappeared, most people thought he was dead. I was left with nothing but a vague memory of green light, and this scar on my forehead.

After I entered Hogwarts I started to find out all of these things about myself and Voldemort; like that some of his powers were transferred to me, my scar would hurt when he was nearby or angry or even happy. It was only in the last couple of years, that I found out that he was able to communicate to me through my scar, being skilled at occlumens and legilimens meant that he could enter my head and see what I was seeing and visa versa, he could pull me into his head, and show me what he could see. He could send me visions and nightmares, whether they were real or not. That is why I had to learn occulomency, to help keep him out."

"And is your scar hurting now?" Dumbledore, asked looking serious.

"Not as much as it did last night," Harry said.

"Did you have a nightmare last night?"

"Yes, but I don't really remember what it was about," Harry admitted.

"You dreamt about the graveyard, and the Department of Mysteries," Ginny spoke up from her place beside Harry. Dumbledore looked over at Ginny, his eyebrow raised. "I woke you up before you revealed anything. I don't know what you were dreaming about before I got there. The boys didn't mention anything else. You were also mumbling something, but I couldn't make any sense of it."

"Miss Weasley, I am going to overlook the fact that you were in the boys dormitory in the middle of the night, and ask how you came to know that Mr Potter here was having a nightmare." Ginny glanced up at the headmaster.

"I honestly don't know, one minute I was asleep and the next minute I was awake and had the strongest feeling that Harry needed me."

"Most unusual," Dumbledore said quietly to himself. Harry looked at Ginny who just shrugged her shoulders. "What time was this?"

"About 2 am, I think," Ginny replied.

"I ask because those gentlemen that you just saw in my office had come to inform me that at a quarter past two this morning, Voldemort attack a small wizarding village down near Kent. It lasted for two hours and three whole families were wiped out, and several others are in St. Mungo's."

"Oh, Merlin," Harry whispered, hanging his head. Ginny placed an arm around his shoulders.

"There was nothing you could have done, dear boy," Dumbledore said comfortingly.

"Yes, there was. I could have… I could have come and warned you and you could have alerted the Order, and maybe more families could have been saved."

"What's the Order?" Dumbledore asked. Harry and Ginny both looked up at him suddenly, then turned to each other.

"The Order of the Phoenix," Ginny said, turning back to face Dumbledore.

"I've never heard of such an order, why would I alert them?" Harry looked over at Ginny, as panic began to set in.

"It's a group of resistance fighters you started to help fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters," Harry said.

"I haven't started any group, though I must say the thought does have merit," he said pensively.

"Harry, maybe we're here to start up the Order," Ginny whispered.

"Possibly," Harry agreed.

"I must say I have been struggling to come up with a way of fighting Voldemort, there is only so much I can do as headmaster of a school, maybe this order is the idea I have been looking for," Dumbledore said excitedly, the twinkle in his eye, that had disappeared during Harry's story of the future, had returned.

"I am going to take this thought into consideration, and make a few enquiries. I must stress that nothing said in this room will be mentioned outside of this room including discussing it with each other."

"Yes, sir," they replied.

"Mr Potter, if you have anymore nightmares, or your scar begins to hurt, let me know immediately."

"I will," Harry replied, and he and Ginny stood up.

"If anyone asks where you were, tell them you have to see me about a few timetabling matters." Harry and Ginny nodded, and left the room, feeling slightly better than when they entered.

"At least we know that we can talk to him now," Ginny said, as they descended the stairs.

"Yeah, I just wish there was something I could have done to save those families, you know?" Harry said.

"I know, Harry, but you can't take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. It's not always your fault."

"I know, it's just sometimes it's hard not to feel responsible."

"It must be tough to have the weight of the world on your shoulders, I couldn't imagine doing what you do," Ginny said in slight awe.

"I would do everything in my power to make sure that you never have to deal with any of this stuff," Harry said with such fierceness and emotion that it shocked Ginny to the core, and they remained silent for rest of the walk back to the common room.

* * *

"Quidditch trials on Thursday!" Sirius announced to the common room in general, as James pinned up the sign he had just finished making. A loud cheer filled the common room, as everyone began to murmur excitedly. Quidditch trials in the Gryffindor house were always exciting times, as everyone would speculate who would get the available positions. 

Harry and Ginny had entered the common room to find a scene of complete and utter chaos. In the spirit of the moment, Sirius had decided to let off a bunch of filibuster fireworks in the common room. Everyone had tried to find pieces of furniture to hide underneath as the fireworks filled the room with smoke and loud bangs. Everyone was screaming and Harry managed to pull Ginny down just in time to avoid being hit by a stray firework.

"What's with the fireworks?" Ginny yelled over the noise to Lily, who was taking shelter under one of the work tables.

"Quidditch trials have been announced and Sirius felt that it was an appropriate moment for a celebration."

After a few moments have passed, the fireworks stopped and everyone crawled out of their hiding places.

"BLACK!" Lily yelled, holding up her homework that had large scorch marks all over it.

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius muttered, as he took off out of the common room, running away from a red faced Lily.

"Hey, Harry, you disappeared after class," James said coming over.

"Yeah, sorry, I had to go meet Ginny. Dumbledore wanted to see us," Harry explained somewhat nervously, as Remus and Peter joined them.

"That patronus was awesome!" James exclaimed, clapping Harry on the back.

"Yeah, was it a stag?" Peter asked, faking curiosity. Harry quickly glanced at Ginny. It was obvious that this conversation was rehearsed.

"Yeah, that's what people tell me."

"Brilliant, why a stag though?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure, my guardian told me that the patronus is supposed to represent the animal best suited to who you are, but I don't understand what that is supposed to mean," he said with a nervous chuckle. The three marauders seemed to accept this explanation and Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"Nice work Harry," Ginny whispered, patting him on the arm, as she headed over to talk to one of the girls in her year.

"So are you going to try out for seeker?" James asked leading Harry over to one of the couches by the fire.

"I'd like to," Harry replied.

"Well tryouts are on Friday, 4 o'clock. Tell Ginny to come along too, I want to see how she plays as chaser."

"Sure, thanks!" Harry said.

The portrait hole opened with a bang, and Sirius crept into the common room.

"Is she here?" he asked.

"No, Sirius, you're safe," Remus said with a laugh, as Sirius collapsed onto the couch next to him.

"That was wicked!" Sirius exclaimed, ignorant of all the dirty looks he was receiving from the others in the common room.

"Somehow I don't think everyone else will agree with you," Remus chuckled looking around the room.

"Who's up for a game of exploding snap?" Peter asked, pulling a deck of cards out from a pocket in his robes. For the rest of the afternoon the boys played games, and although Harry was enjoying himself, he couldn't help but think of Voldemort's attack on the village. Tonight he would have to remember to put up his occulomency shields.

* * *

"_Lily take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"_

James woke hearing mumbling coming from the bed beside his.

"Dad… Mum…" Throwing the covers off of him, he got out of bed and peered around the curtain of Harry's bed. He was turning and thrashing in his bed, sweat beaded on his forehead. James gently reached forward and shook his shoulder.

"No, no," he whimpered.

The door opened to the dormitory and Ginny hurried over to Harry's bed.

"How long has he been like this?" she whispered to James, quietly so as to not wake the others in the room.

"I don't know, I only just woke up," James replied, looking concerned. Ginny sat down on the edge of Harry's bed and push his fringe back off of his sweaty forehead.

"_Silencio_," she muttered pointing her wand at the four poster bed, so that any sound made by them, would not wake the others. "Come on Harry, wake up," Ginny said gently. Harry seemed to relax, and then suddenly without warning he tensed up and began shaking. Then he let out a blood curling scream and began convulsing on the bed. "Harry, wake up!" Ginny said a little louder. "Come on Harry, I need you to wake up!" Still Harry hadn't stopped.

"Harry!" James called, glancing over at Ginny who was looking panic stricken. "Harry!" James called again, and suddenly the screaming stopped and Harry sat up, tears mixed in with the sweat running down his face. Harry latched onto Ginny, not letting her go.

"Another village, near Manchester, I think, one family gone already," Harry whispered, his voice hoarse.

"James, I need you to go and fetch Dumbledore," Ginny began, as the door to the dormitory opened once more and Dumbledore appeared around the curtains.

"Do not worry Miss Granger, I am already here," Dumbledore interrupted, looking down at Harry, who had pulled away from Ginny.

"What did you see?"

"One family, muggles I think. He used the Cruciatus curse on the young girl. She's worse than death."

"Where?"

"Outside Manchester, I'm not sure where exactly."

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore called, and with a flash of fire, the bird appeared. He grabbed a spare piece of parchment and a quill that had been resting on Harry's bedside table and began to write a note.

"I need to send a message to Elphias Doge, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, there are death eaters attacking a village outside Manchester. He needs to send aurors out immediately," Dumbledore said to the phoenix.

'_How many death eaters?'_ came the reply. Dumbledore turned to Harry, to ask him the question, when to his complete surprise, Harry answered back.

"At least twenty." Dumbledore stared at Harry in amazement then quickly finished writing his letter and gave it to Fawkes, who disappeared in a flash of fire.

"What's going on?" James asked, startling Harry. He had been so caught up on the nightmare that he hadn't realised that his father was sitting on the other side of his bed.

"Never mind that now Mr Potter, Harry do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

"No, professor," Harry replied, his voice still raspy from the screaming.

"How about your scar?" Wincing Harry put his arm up to feel his scar.

"It's burning," he replied.

"I think you need to need to go to the hospital wing," Ginny said quietly.

"I'm fine," Harry replied.

"Harry James! I just watched you being held under the Cruciatus curse, I know that you are not fine, I can see it every time you move."

"That was the Cruciatus curse?" James asked, looking from Harry to Dumbledore and back again.

"You can feel the curses?" Dumbledore asked quietly, ignoring James' question.

"Sometimes, when he is feeling particularly vindictive," Harry said, then seeing their worried faces, he continued, wearily. "Don't worry, it's less painful in my mind than it is in real life."

"You've been placed under the curse in real life?" James questioned again, frustrated that he wasn't being given any answers.

"Several times," Harry replied quietly.

"I feel that it is perhaps best if we continue this in my office, I can tell none of you will probably be getting much sleep. Miss Granger, I trust that you can take Mr James to the hospital wing."

"No," Harry replied. "I want to be there." Dumbledore looked at him skeptically. "Trust me sir, I look at lot worse than I am."

"Fine, let us all go back to my office, I feel there are some other people who need to be told certain things. Tinker?" Dumbledore called and with a soft pop a house elf appeared.

"Could you be so kind as to wake Professor McGonagall and send her to my office please."

"Certainly, sir," the house elf replied, disappearing to complete his duty.

"If you would all follow me please." Dumbledore said.

Ginny helped Harry out of the bed, and he stood on shaky legs. James took hold of one of Harry's arms, to help hold him upright.

"It will wear off after a minute or so," Harry said quietly as Ginny and James helped him from the room.

When they reached Dumbledore's office, McGonagall was already there dressed in her tartan dressing gown and her hair up in a hair net.

"What is so urgent at 3 o'clock in the morning Albus?" McGonagall questioned, then catching a glance at the three students behind him, she sighed and asked. "What have they done?" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Nothing Minerva. Voldemort attacked another village tonight."

"Oh my," McGonagall replied, sinking down into one of the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, while Ginny insisted that Harry take the other one. "What was the damage?"

"I have no idea," Dumbledore replied. "I expect a report from Mr Doge within the next couple of hours. But it will be far less than what it would have been without Mr James here."

"How do you mean?"

"It seems that Mr James here has a connection to Voldemort, through the scar on his forehead. He can feel when Voldemort is happy or angry and sometimes he can see what is going on through Voldemort's mind and he can occasionally feel any curses that Voldemort casts."

"How?" James asked, looking at Harry warily.

"I am not yet sure how, Mr Potter, but I feel that however it occurred Harry is no more dark than yourself."

"How can you assume such a thing, sir? I mean, we don't even know him and you say he shares a mind with You-Know-Who,"

"James, my mother and my father were killed by Voldemort, my god-father, my mentor and a friend of mine were killed by death eaters. Many of my friends have nearly lost their lives thanks to the death eaters, and I myself have been faced with Voldemort's wand on at least four occasions. Trust me, I would rather cover myself in Bulbotuber pus and be fed to a dragon than ever join Voldemort and his band of masked idiots," Harry spat, anger in his eyes. Ginny placed a hand over Harry's and he immediately calmed down. James looked taken aback, and then hung his head. He should have known better, it had only been yesterday that Ginny had told him some of Harry's story.

"Mr Potter, I believe what Harry is saying is true, and even if I didn't, the simple fact that he is able to understand my phoenix leads me to believe that he is on the side of light. For phoenixs are noble birds of the light. Though that gift does intrigue me."

"What gift, sir?" Harry asked.

"You see Harry, I should be the only one that Fawkes is able to communicate with, but back upstairs you heard him ask me a question and answered. How did you do it?"

"I don't know sir?"

"Most intriguing," Dumbledore muttered looking thoughtful.

"What is going on?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Perhaps we should start from the beginning," Dumbledore suggested, looking at James.

"Well, I was asleep, but murmuring woke me up, and it was coming from Harry's bed. So I got up to see if he was alright. I knew he often had nightmares, Ginny told us last night. I tried to wake him up, and then Ginny came in," he said looking at Ginny.

"I woke up with the feeling that Harry was in trouble and I ran to his room, and sure enough he was having another nightmare. I tried to wake up, but he wouldn't wake up and then he started to scream and thrash about."

"I never heard a scream," Professor McGonagall said.

"That's because I cast a silencing charm, so that he wouldn't wake the others," Ginny said. "Then he woke up talking about an attack on a village and I asked James to go fetch, you, Professor Dumbledore, when you appeared."

"After our conversation, yesterday, I felt it was best if I had Fawkes watch over Harry and to notify me if something was wrong. He came to me and told me that you, Harry, were having a nightmare. By the time I got to you it was already over," Professor Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair. "Harry, would you mind telling us about your dream?"

"It started off like all of my nightmares. A green light, mum screaming, dad yelling, then it changed and I was standing outside of this ordinary house. Except that there were death eaters all around it and the house was on fire. There was a family of muggles, a mum and dad, a boy and a little girl. They killed the father first, then the mother. The boy put up a fight, but he couldn't do anything. They tortured him and his sister. The girl was only young about 4 or 5. She suffered the most," Harry said fighting back tears.

Professor McGonagall's faced softened as she listened to Harry. She wasn't quite sure why, but she started to have maternal feelings for the young man that was seated in front of her. She saw the fear in his eyes and heard the pain in his voice and she wanted nothing more than to give him a big hug, and make him a plate of her famous 'McGonagall Muggle Eggs', and tell him that everything will be alright.

A flash in the corner of the room, drew her attention away from Harry and towards Fawkes who had just appeared. Dumbledore and Harry appeared to be listening intently to what ever the bird was saying, as she could only hear mournful crooning. From their reactions she assumed that it hadn't been very good news.

"Two muggle families are dead, one more injured. The magical families escaped without incident. Two aurors died and five death eaters. Five more death eaters were captured, the rest got away. Voldemort was no where to be found," Dumbledore reported, and then addressed Harry, who had placed his head in his hands. "Thank you Harry. Without your help, who knows what would have happened."

"But two aurors died," Harry said, looking up at the professor.

"Yes, but many families were saved. Aurors go into their jobs know that they could be killed in the line of duty, it is just part of their job. Those two men would have died the way they wanted, protecting others. You did a good thing today."

"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled.

"I think it is best for all of you to go back to your dormitories and try and get so sleep. I know it will be hard, but you all should get some rest." The three students nodded, and Harry stood up, somewhat gingerly.

"Mr Potter, I trust that you will not mention any of what you have heard tonight, even to your friends. Information like this, if leaked, would be valuable to the other side."

"Yes, sir," James replied, and together the three of them left the room.

They headed back to Gryffindor tower in silence, each contemplating the events of that night. As they entered the common room, there was a silent agreement, that none of them were going to go back to bed, and they sat down in the chairs by the dying fire.

"Listen, Harry, I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to accuse you without all of the facts, it was wrong of me," James began feeling incredibly guilty.

"Forget about it, I probably would have done the same thing to tell you the truth."

"Well still, I want you accept my apology."

"Apology accepted," Harry said, holding out his hand for James to shake, which he did.

"I want you to know that if you ever need to talk about anything, you can come and talk to me, I know I seem like a bit of a git sometimes but I can keep a secret, so can Remus and even Sirius, if it is serious. But never tell Sirius if you like someone because guaranteed they will know within a couple of hours. Trust me, I made the mistake of telling him that I liked Lily back in first year. He told her and ever since she hasn't been able to look me in the face, unless she is yelling at me."

"What about Peter?" Harry asked curiously, wanting to know his father's opinion of his traitor, suddenly seemed appealing.

"Well Pete has always been a bit of a mystery. He follows Sirius and I around everywhere and tries to copy the things we do, sometimes it drives you crazy. He's alright though, not bad at pranking. Quite a sneaky thing he is," James said almost thoughtfully. They lapsed into a comfortable silence for awhile, before James was overcome with curiosity.

"So what is the story between you two?" he asked. Harry looked like a deer that had been caught in headlights, but Ginny had a blank look on her face.

"Whatever are you talking about?" she asked, innocently.

"I'm talking about Ginny's ability to know when you are having a nightmare."

"Well the nightmare thing I have been able to do since I was 11," Ginny said.

"Really?" Harry asked, shocked. She had never mentioned this before. "I didn't know that. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Well it never seemed the right time, and until recently I never had the guts to do anything about it. Besides Ron was always there for you, so I didn't think you needed me butting in too. I know you hate all that attention and I never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Why 11?" James asked.

"I don't know, I was thinking about that and the only reason I can think of is because that is when Harry saved my life."

"The chamber?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded.

"I owe you a life debt Harry," Ginny said sincerely.

"No you don't Gin, I was just in the right place at the right time, that's all."

"It doesn't work that way Harry, not in the magical world."

"She's right Harry. If you save a person's life intentionally or not, they owe you a life debt. It's a form of old magic, and it cannot be broken."

"But does everyone who owes a life debt to a someone have a nightmare radar for that person?"

"Radar?" James and Ginny asked at the same time.

"It's a muggle device that is used to help locate things."

"No, I don't think so. I did a bit of research, with the help of Hermione, on life debts and I haven't found any reference to it."

"Maybe it is a rare side effect?" James suggested.

"Maybe," Ginny echoed. They fell into another comfortable silence.

"Well I think I might be going back to bed and get a bit more sleep," James said with a big yawn.

"Night," Harry and Ginny said, and soon they were alone in the common room.

Both were silent for a long period of time listening to the crackle of the dying fire.

"I don't want you to feel like you owe me your life Gin," Harry said quietly.

"I don't," Ginny replied. "Harry, the whole life bond thing is hard to understand when you don't owe your life to someone like I owe you. But while it may be an obligation, I don't feel like it is. I know that you broke up with me because you were trying to protect me, but I am the one who has to protect you, not only to fulfill my part of the life bond, but also because I need to know that you are alright."

"I don't want you to, you might be killed," Harry whispered.

"I know, Harry. But I'm not going anywhere without a fight, I promise you that." She stood up, and walked over to him, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"You really are a sweet boy, Harry," she murmured, just loud enough for Harry to hear. Heading up the stairs towards the girls dormitory, she left Harry alone in the common room, with only his thoughts to occupy him.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I was in exams and then I was away skiing for a week. Thank you so much for the reviews, they are always appreciated. I hope you all enjoyed this super long chapter. Until next time, happy reading. - Lizzie 


	11. Chapter 11

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

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**Chapter Eleven**

'_What seems to be occupying your thoughts, Mr Potter?'_ Harry looked up startled at the sudden appearance of Fawkes on the table in front of him. Getting over his shock quickly, Harry remembered something Dumbledore had said back in his office that had made him curious.  
"Why does my ability to communicate with you intrigue Professor Dumbledore?"  
'_It is rare for any individual to be able to communicate with a phoenix, but for someone to communicate with me is an even greater rarity.'  
_"Why is that?"  
'_I am unlike any other Phoenix in existence.'  
_"But, why?"  
"_I am afraid that I cannot answer that. There is only one who can.'  
_"The Professor?"  
'_Yes.' _Upon seeing Harry's disappointment, Fawkes continued. _'I'm sorry Master Potter, I wish I could tell you more, but it is not my place. It is up to Master Dumbledore to tell you, once he has figured it out for himself. Though, I must say that since you arrived here in this time this existence has become murky and for the first time the line has crossed into the mist.'  
_"Did you learn to talk in riddles from Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.  
'_No, Master Potter, I am afraid that he learnt that from me,'_ Fawkes replied with a kind of bizarre sounding chuckle. After trying for several minutes to make sense of what Fawkes had said Harry gave up and decided to try and get some sleep.

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Later that morning, Harry woke to a bucket of water being poured over his head. Springing up from the bed he turned to face Sirius, who was laughing so hard at Harry's sodden appearance that tears were pouring down his face. Glancing over at Remus and Peter on the other side of the room, he saw that they weren't faring much better.  
"Sirius, you are so dead," Harry heard James mutter and he turned to see an equally wet James standing beside him.  
"It's payback for yesterday," Sirius snorted, giving into another fit of laughter.  
"Yeah, but Harry didn't-" James began but was cut off by Harry.  
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," Harry muttered, grateful for James' concern. In truth, Harry was just so glad to see his godfather so joyous now, because in a few years he would have very little to smile about.

"We need to do something about Sirius' mood," Remus said. "He's far too mischievous, this morning."  
"Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting Remus?" James asked, a smile growing on his face.  
"With the exception of some fireworks in the common room and the incident on the train we have done very little to live up to our name."  
"He's right, it's high time we did something," Peter agreed.  
"You see Harry," James said turning to Harry. "We have a reputation here at Hogwarts, we love to pull pranks."  
"And we are the best at it," Sirius put in.  
"Yes, and we are the best," James agreed with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, our main targets are the Slytherins, in particular Severus Snape, but usually all of the Slytherins."  
"Though we are an equal opportunity group, and we also pick on everyone else," Remus added.  
"Yes, well, would you like to help us?" James asked. Harry stood there speechless, his father had just asked him to become a marauder.  
"Ah, sure, thanks!" Harry replied with a grin.  
"Great, starting thinking of ideas, cause this has got to be a good one."

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Two days later Harry found himself standing next to Ginny on the Quidditch pitch listening to James ramble on about his dreams for the Gryffindor Team during the upcoming year. Over the last two days, Harry and the Marauders had implemented a barrage of practical jokes on students and teachers alike. Though they had yet to be caught and therefore punished, Harry knew that the teachers had started keeping an annoyingly close watch on them. They had turned all of the student's hair their respective house colour, charmed Snape's books to run away from him and they charmed the suits of armour to follow random students and teachers around whistling the latest tunes from the Wizarding Wireless Network. Harry had laughed at the look on Professor McGonagall's face when a suit of armour followed her into class singing a song about falling in love with a newt. They had ceased the pranks for the time being, having sated Sirius desire for mischief for the time being and not wanting to test McGonagall's nerves any further.

"And so I say to all of you who wish to try out for this team, that if you get in you will be expected to train hard and follow my lead. If any of you have a problem with this, leave now." Harry looked around at the rather large group that had gathered to take part in the trials. "Good, now then, could all of those who wish to try out for the position of seeker, which is all of you here because it is the only spot available, could you please make your way to the front of the crowd, and those that are not trying out, I ask you to make your way to the stands." Harry bade Ginny goodbye and made his way up to the front of the crowd.

Once the spectators had left to go sit in the stands, there was a group of about 20 people left behind.

"We are going to trial you all two at a time," James said. "So the rest of you will just have to wait your turn. Basically it is simple. Game rules apply. The rest of the team will divide into two teams. On each team there is one keeper, one chaser, one beater and a seeker. There is a fifteen minute time limit for you to catch the snitch or until I say stop. Are there any questions?" Nobody said anything. "Alright, let's get going, starting with Ryan Hinkle and Rheena Goldstein." A young boy that Harry vaguely remembered being in second year, and a girl from third year stepped forward and climbed onto their brooms.

Right away Harry could tell that Ryan hadn't had much experience on a broomstick and his nerves were getting the best of him. Rheena wasn't faring much better. Five minutes later Ryan was hit in the stomach with a slow bludger. Sirius and Rhys, the other beater, were playing it easy it seemed to Harry, as Rheena Goldstein narrowly avoided a clash with a bludger. Fifteen minutes later, the snitch had yet to be caught and Ryan and Rheena looked worse for wear. The rest of the afternoon continued in a similar fashion, there were a couple of hopefuls, but James hadn't really been impressed with them and neither had Harry.

"Ok, lastly we have Harry James, and there is no one else, ummm," James looked around for someone to play seeker opposite Harry.  
"Ginny, can play, if you need someone," Harry suggested.  
"Does she play seeker?"  
"Yeah, a couple of years ago, she played seeker on our team for a whole season," Harry said with a hint of pride.  
"Then lets get her down here," James said, grabbing two of the school brooms and gave one to Harry and then flew up into the stands.

"Hey Ginny, want to try out for seeker?" James asked handing the broom over to her. "We need someone to verse Harry, and he says you are pretty good." Grinning, Ginny jumped on the broom and took off towards Harry, who had just climbed onto his broom.  
"Prepare to go down, Harry," Ginny yelled as she raced past him.  
"Only if you're coming with me, Gin-gin!" Harry replied racing after her.

After five minutes of searching, Harry caught a glimpse of the snitch down the opposite end of the pitch to where he was, and he noticed that Ginny was a lot closer. He knew she was keeping a close eye on him, so he slowly drifted towards the other end of the field. Ginny sensing his movement, looked at Harry, and the turned towards her teams goal posts. Then just above the middle ring, she saw it the glint of gold. She took off towards the snitch, Harry not far behind her. Together they raced towards the snitch, dodging and weaving through the other players and the blugder.

The snitch, sensing that someone was after it, took off heading up into the sky. Harry and Ginny pointed the brooms skywards and took off after the snitch. Higher and higher it went, and then suddenly it zoomed downwards towards the ground, Harry and Ginny not far behind. Harry quickly glanced at Ginny and smiled at the determined look on her face. Wind raced passed them, and the faint sounds of screams could be heard, but nothing mattered but catching that snitch. The ground came closer and closer, the players on both teams had stopped playing to watch the race. Harry pulled in front of her slowly, his arm outstretched, but he was still to far away. A bludger came hurtling towards them, Harry performed a perfect sloth-grip roll to avoid it. Ginny, however wasn't so lucky. The bludger hit her broom, splitting the broom in two. Harry fearing for Ginny, sent a wandless cushioning charm towards the ground beneath her. Ginny fell the last several feet towards the ground and landed on the cushioned ground with a soft thump.

After a quick glance to make sure Ginny was ok, Harry continued his sharp descent. "Come on, come on," Harry muttered to his broom, as the ground rose up to meet him. Harry made one last grab for the snitch and with inches to spare he pulled the nose of his broom up but it was too late, his foot caught the ground and Harry came flying off of his broom.

Winded, Harry turned over and struggled to sit up, but a hand pushed him back down onto the ground.  
"Harry, lay down for a minute, you need to catch your breath," Ginny said, her voice stiff.  
"Are you ok?" he asked between gasps.  
"I'm fine, thanks to you." The crowd of Gryffindors that had watched the trials from the stands had come down onto the pitch, surrounding Harry and Ginny, chattering excitedly.  
"You are an idiot, do you know that?" Ginny asked. "You could have snapped your neck, do you know that?" She ran a hand down his leg.  
"Ginny, I've done that before," Harry groaned.  
"I know, but you are still an idiot. You nearly kill yourself every time and one day you just might, it's only a snitch," she muttered, her hands now feeling his chest.  
"Ginny, what are you doing?" he asked, his cheeks turning pink.  
"I'm checking to see if you have broken anything," she said exasperatedly.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Sirius' beaming face appeared above Harry.  
"I haven't seen a catch like that since Mulhoney caught the snitch for England in the World Cup Final against Belarus in back in 1970. I was only nine but I remember it like it was yesterday," James said in awe. "And Ginny was brilliant too, shame about the bludger though."

Looking up at the crowd of expectant Gryffindors, James said,  
"Good work, all of you. I'll put the team list up on the notice board but the end of the weekend. Now we should all go up and have tea. I don't know about you lot but I am hungry." The crowd of Gryffindors shouted in agreement, and began to head back up to the castle, most congratulating Harry on his marvelous catch. Harry waited expectantly for someone to mention his wandless magic, but nothing was said.  
"You alright Harry?" Remus asked, staying behind to help James and Sirius pack up the gear.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Ginny is just worries a lot."  
"Yes I do because you are always doing something either stupid or dangerous. One day you're going to do something really stupid and you're going to get yourself killed." Harry's smile faded and Ginny clasped a hand over her mouth, realizing the meaning of what she had just said.  
"Oh, Harry, I didn't mean…" she trailed off, looking horrified. Remus sensing that this was a private conversation left to go help, James put the bludger back into the box.

"Yes, you did," Harry said quietly, standing up. "But you're right, when I go, it will probably be because I am doing something stupid." Seeing that Ginny didn't really look reassured, Harry put an arm around her shoulders. "But it's ok Gin, I don't plan on that happening for at least the next couple of months," he said in a jokingly. Ginny tried to smile, but somehow the thought of Harry dying was never going to be funny, no matter how many jokes he made about it.

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The next two weeks had been practically incident free. James had unsuccessfully asked Lily out three times. Sirius too had asked a girl out, though she initially agreed, a week later he had moved on. The only bad thing that happened was that James and Sirius had managed to land themselves in detention, after they were caught charming Snape's robes red with gold polka dots. Harry hadn't had any nightmares, something that he wasn't used to and made him feel slightly uneasy. Both Harry and Ginny were still ahead in most of their classes, and so found their school work to be not too challenging. They even found that they were picking up little things that they had missed the first time around.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team, with their new seeker, Harry, was training four nights a week. James, Harry thought, was just as bad as Oliver Wood had been, maybe even worse. They trained hard, everyone exhausted after training, but they were training well, moving in sync with each other. Harry enjoyed getting to know this side of his father. Something about the way James patiently taught him new seeker moves, and how to avoid being hit by a bludger, reminded Harry of all the things he had missed out on after not having a father in his life. Harry lived for those moments where James seemed more like a father to him than a classmate or friend. There were a number of times that Harry nearly slipped and called him 'Dad', but he had always managed to cover it up in time.

Harry had also been spending a bit of time with Lily, though not as much as he would have liked. They did usually sit next to each other at breakfast and talked about classes, family, teachers and fellow students. A couple of times Harry had caught his father looking at him jealously, but so far James had yet to say anything to him. Harry had just shrugged the glares away. He was spending some time with his mother, and there wasn't anything wrong with that.

"Next lesson we will begin transfiguring innate objects into living, breathing animals," Professor McGonagall said sharply, bringing Harry out of his daydream. "Until then I want you to complete a three foot essay on the mechanisms of change that take place during this transformation. That will be all for today." Harry groaned as he collected his things, another essay to add to his two for potions and defence. Beside him, Remus didn't look like he was faring any better than Harry with the news of a new assignment.

"Another assignment, that's the third one this week. I'm never going to get this done in time," he groaned.  
"It's not too bad," Harry replied. "Quidditch hasn't started yet, so we have the weekend free."  
"I have to go away this weekend," Remus muttered quietly, stuffing his quill into his bag.  
"Why?" Harry asked, confused. Remus' face paled slightly, a fact that didn't escaped Harry's attention.  
"I have to visit my mother, she isn't very well," Remus lied. Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion, then everything clicked into place. This Saturday night was the full moon. Trying not to let his comprehension show, Harry placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.  
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she gets better soon." Remus gave him an almost guilty looking smile.  
"Thanks," he replied quietly, walking out the door of the classroom.

"What's wrong with him?" Peter asked, watching Remus hurry down the hall.  
"He's got a bit on his mind, you know with his mum being sick and all," Harry said.  
"Remus's mum isn't- hey!" Peter was cut off, when Sirius shoved James, knocking Peter to the ground.  
"Sorry, Pete, James here was being a prat," Sirius said, blocking the doorway and glaring at Peter.

"Move it, Black," a voice sneered from inside the classroom. Harry turned and saw a group of Slytherins glaring at Sirius and James.  
"Or what, Rosier?" Sirius sneered back.  
"Or you'll get your end sooner rather than later, blood traitor," the boy next to Rosier hissed.  
"Why thank you Wilkes, it's not a Wednesday without a threat from you," Sirius goaded the group of Slytherins in front of him, while James helped Peter up from the floor.  
"Black, I suggest that you – " Snape began, but was interrupted.

"Is everything alright here?" a softer voice spoke up.  
"Lily!" James exclaimed, his frown softening into a large smile.  
"Potter, what are you up to?"  
"Nothing, we were all just waiting for Sirius to move his a-posterior out of the doorway, so that we can get through," James explained as though they hadn't been about to have a duel in the classroom.  
"Well, that's nice, now could you move because some of us are hungry, and want to get to the great hall before all of the food is gone."  
"Certainly Lily," James said, shoving Sirius through the door.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table in the great hall.  
"It was just the Slytherins being Slytherins," James spat, piling sandwiches onto his plate.  
"What do they have against you?" Harry asked.  
"You know that James and I come from pureblood families, right?" Sirius said.  
"Yeah."  
"Most pureblood families embrace the ideals of You-Know-Who, they believe that they are superior to everyone else just because they are pureblood," James said with a glare over at the Slytherin table.  
"Those purebloods that don't agree, are branded blood traitors, like James' family and me," Sirius said. Harry noticed that Peter kept quiet during this conversation, making Harry wonder if he had already joined Voldemort's ranks.  
"It's not true though, I mean some of the greatest wizards ever were half-blood or less. I mean look at Lily, she's the brightest witch here and she is muggleborn," James said a proud look on his face.

"What's going on?" a voice asked as they took a seat next to Harry.  
"James is just drooling over Lily again," Peter said, passing Ginny the plate of sandwiches.  
Taking a few of the sandwiches, Ginny looked around the table.  
"Where's Remus?" she asked, taking a bite a jam sandwich.  
"Packing probably," Sirius mumbled around a mouthful of crisps.  
"Why is he packing?" Ginny asked worriedly. Harry sensing her concern patted her on the arm.  
"He's ok, he's just going to visit his mum for a few days, she's not feeling very well," he said, squeezing her arm gently and giving her a look as though he was trying to tell her more. Then all of a sudden, she jumped slightly as she heard his voice. 'It's a full moon this weekend.' She'd heard the words as clear as day, but she hadn't seen his lips move.  
"What?" Ginny asked, in shock.  
"I said, his mum isn't feeling well and that he is going to visit her for a few days," Harry explained calmly.  
'Full moon," she heard again and he definitely hadn't moved his lips that time.

Glancing around the table, Ginny saw everyone staring at her.  
"Oh, no that's dreadful news," she said, covering up her shock quickly. Harry satisfied that she understood exactly where Remus was, went back to eating his sandwich. "Harry, I need to talk to you," she said quietly.  
"I'm still eating," he said, taking another bite of his sandwich as if to prove a point.  
"Bring it with you," Ginny said, pulling him up from the table. Harry begrudgingly got up, ignoring the amused looks he was getting from James and Sirius.  
"See you in Charms," Harry mumbled following Ginny out of the Great Hall, and out into the sunshine.

They had walked down to the lake in relative silence. The only sound was Harry's occasional chewing, as he ate the last of his sandwich.  
"Ginny, what's going on?" he asked finally, when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.  
"I heard you," she blurted, sitting down on a rock.  
"Heard me what?" Harry asked, confused, as he sat down beside her.  
"I heard you in my head, just then when you were telling me where Remus was going I heard you say something in my head," she said, looking as though she thought she was going insane. Harry stiffened slightly.  
"What did I say?"  
"That it was the full moon this weekend," Ginny replied quietly. Harry turned to her startled. "I must be going mad," Ginny said with a small chuckle.  
"No," Harry said. "You're not going mad." Ginny raised her eyebrow at him, and Harry went on to explain. "I did say that, just not aloud. I said them in my head, hoping that you would hear them."  
"Is that some strange form of legilimens?" Ginny asked.  
"I don't know. If it is no one has told me about it."  
"So how did you do it?" Ginny asked.  
"I don't know, all I did was try and tell you something without actually saying something."

Ginny pondered this for a while, staring out across the lake. This new twist in the tale of Harry Potter, certainly made things interesting. She had never heard anything about communicating telepathically, but then again Harry was no ordinary wizard.  
"Try it again," she said, turning back to face him.  
"What?"  
"Try and tell me something in your head." With a shrug of his shoulders Harry figured that he may as well give it a go. Facing Ginny he stared into her eyes and concentrated on sending her a message. After a few moments he looked at her expectantly. Ginny shook her head.  
"Try again," she said softly. Harry closed his eyes, concentrating and then opened them and stared into her eyes. Still there was nothing.  
"I'm trying," Harry said.  
"I know, was there something else you were doing at the time?" Ginny asked. Harry thought back to when they were in the great hall.  
"Yeah, I was touching your arm," he said.  
"That's it, maybe we need to be in physical contact. Here," she held out her hand to him and he took it. Concentrating one more time he tried it again.

Her laughter broke his concentration.  
"What?" he asked.  
"Ron likes Hermione?" Ginny asked with a giggle. "That was what you thought of?"  
"Yeah well, it was the first thing I thought of," Harry defended himself. "I can't believe it worked. Does it work the other way around?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, can you communicate with me?" he asked.  
"I don't know, but I'll try." Ginny squeezed Harry's hand gently as she concentrated on trying to send him a message. Harry shook his head. Ginny sighed and tried again, but still there was nothing. "We should probably get back up to the castle," he said noticing the time. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, he continued. "We'll work on it Gin, I promise." Ginny smiled.  
"Ok, let's go." Together they headed back up to the castle, each lost in their own thoughts.

'Is Ginny the only one I am able to communicate with, or can I do the same with others?' Harry wondered. 'Is this how she is able to know when I am having nightmares?'  
As they parted ways at the top of the staircase, Harry watched as Ginny walked away, and he felt a small sense of loss. Sighing, he turned and headed towards Charms. He couldn't think about her like that, not anymore, it was far too dangerous.

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A/N: Ok, I am so sorry this took so long. You all know how it is; sometimes life just gets in the way. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all of those wonderful reviews! - Lizzie


	12. Chapter 12

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix  
Author: Elizabeth Kelly  
Rating: PG -13 (T)  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.  
Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

'_BANG'_

"OW!"

"Shhhh!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Shut up, Wormtail," a voice hissed.

"I hit my shin," another voice moaned.

"I don't care, keep your voice down," a third voice spoke up.

Harry stared at the curtains surrounding his four-poster bed, he would have laughed if he wasn't trying to pretend he was asleep. They really were comical, they were so loud that even if Harry had been asleep before, he definitely wouldn't be now.

"Do you think we woke him?" Harry heard Peter ask, and he rolled his eyes. Harry heard footsteps approach the bed, and he quickly shut his eyes.

"I don't think so," Sirius, replied.

"Come on, lets not keep Moony waiting," James whispered.

A few moments later, Harry heard the dormitory door close, and he waited a few moments to make sure that they weren't coming back, and then got up and opened his trunk at the end of the bed. Pushing aside his school robes several broken quills, some used parchment and a couple of books, he found what he was looking for.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry whispered, watching as the ink lines spread across the page. Harry searched the map for the three dots as they made their way down towards the entrance hall. Harry moved to the open window, and watched as three figures moved across the grounds towards the large tree in the distance.

Harry sighed, wishing he could be there for the man who had been another Godfather to him. He knew how much the transformations hurt him, even with his best friends there. Remus had, in a moment of weakness after a particularly bad transformation, confessed to Harry about just how much pain he went through. Since then Harry had had trouble sleeping whenever it was the full moon.

The door to the room opened, and Harry turned around to see Ginny, watching him.

"You ok?" Harry nodded, going back to gazing out of the window.

"He'll be ok, you know, he has James and Sirius with him," Ginny said as she came to sit down beside him.

"I know, it's just…" Harry trailed off with a wave of his hand.

"Just what?" Ginny asked watching the conflicting emotions on his face. Harry took a deep breath.

"I don't know, it's just hard, watching my friends, my family, everyone I… it's just hard watching everyone in pain, knowing that there is nothing that I can do or that it's my fault," Harry furiously blinked back tears.

"Don't you dare do this to yourself, Harry Potter. You are a remarkable person, who has been forced to deal with things that no one should be forced to deal with. None of this is your fault. Remus was bitten long before you were born, how could you possibly be responsible for that?"

"I'm not, I'm just frustrated that I can't help him. I want to help him," Harry ran his hand through his hair. Ginny reached over and clasped his hand in hers.

"I know you do, we all do. Remus is a wonderful man. But Harry," Ginny paused and reached out turning Harry's face towards her. "You can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try." Harry stared into her eyes. "People ask too much from you." Harry shook his head. "Yes, they do Harry. You're seventeen years old, you deserve to have a life."

All his life, all that Harry wanted was to be normal, now here was his chance, if just for a little while to be normal. In 1977, no one expected him to save the world, no one expected him to fight evil, no on expected him to be wise beyond his years, no one expected him to be the great Harry Potter. In 1977, he was Harry James, a young man with a tragic past and a bright future. He could live in the now instead of worrying about staying alive for just a few more months.

He wanted to, he wanted it so much. Sitting in front of him, was the most beautiful girl in the world, someone that he would gladly give up everything for. Perhaps it was possible to give up everything, just for those few months that they were in this time. The moonlight flooded through the window and surrounded Ginny giving her an almost ethereal appearance. She looked so beautiful and she smelt so good, that Harry found himself leaning towards her.

He wanted to, he really did, but he couldn't. If he kissed her now, he could never go back, he could never pretend that she wasn't important to him, and he could never put her in that kind of danger. Harry leaned his forehead against Ginny's and she let out a small sigh.

"I can't Ginny, I can't do it. I want to I really do, but I can't. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Ginny ran her hand through his hair.

"It's ok," she whispered.

"No, it's not," Harry whispered.

"No, it's not," she agreed with a small chuckle. "But it's what there is." Ginny pulled him in for a hug.

"I'm not going to make a promise that I can't keep, and I don't want to hold you back from living your life, but I need you to know that you mean a whole lot more to me than I could even begin to describe."

"Me too," Ginny whispered as tears poured down her face. "Me too."

* * *

The second Saturday of October dawned bright and clear, not even a whisper of wind, perfect conditions for the first quidditch game of the season. The tension had been high between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins for the week leading up to the game. The Marauders and Harry stepped up their pranks, with plenty of helpful hints from Ginny, who after years of living with Fred and George knew a lot about pranking. Harry noticed that many of the teachers, including Dumbledore turned a blind eye towards most of the harmless pranks. However, sitting at the table in the great hall just hours before the match, the last thing Harry was thinking about was pulling pranks. 

"Don't worry, mate, you're an awesome flier!" Sirius said clapping Harry on the back.

"Yeah, just fly like you did in practice and everything will be fine," James agreed, shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Yeah," Harry muttered nibbling on a piece of toast.

"James, don't forget you've got night patrol tonight," Lily said taking the empty seat beside Harry.

"No, Lily I haven't forgotten," James replied.

"James could you please try and eat with your mouth closed?" Lily said, grimacing as a piece of egg landed on her cheek. In response, James just stuck out his tongue at her. Lily sighed, muttering something about James' level of maturity.

"Are you coming to the game?" Ginny asked, her.

"Yeah, Remus is dragging me along."

"Come on Lils, you know you love it," James said with a grin.

"It's too dangerous, you could kill yourselves."

"Yeah," replied Sirius with a grin. "But that's half the fun."

"We should be heading down there," James said looking at his watch. "Come on team, let's go." James stood up from the table, followed by the other member of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Cheers, boos and calls of good luck were heard throughout the hall as the team left the hall. Harry turned back towards Ginny and caught her giving him a thumbs up. The nerves in Harry's stomach seemed to lessen just a little and with a smile he turned and left the great hall.

"And it's Hannigan with the quaffle, Hannigan passes to Woodridge, Woodridge swings out wide and rolls to avoid McElroy, ducking underneath the bludger the passes the quaffle to Potter. It's Potter with the quaffle now, Potter steadily makes his way up the field. Ooh that was good bludger work by Deems, but Potter's still got the quaffle. Snape is heading straight for Potter, it looks like he is going to hit him. Foul! Gryffindor get the penalty. Potter lines it up and he scores! Another ten points to Gryffindor. That brings Gryffindor's lead to one hundred and thirty points as we enter our fourth hour of play."

The game had been going on for four hours and still the snitch remained free. Harry had been close a couple of times but the tiny golden ball had managed to dart out of the way, just in time. Harry's eyes scanned the pitch as he kept a close eye on the other seeker, though Harry felt that he really shouldn't worry. The other seeker was a dumb as he looked. He spent most of his time tailing Harry. Though the last half hour or so he seemed to be right on Harry's tail. Getting frustrated, Harry took a quick look for the snitch and not seeing it anywhere he pretended he had and raced down towards the ground. Higgins, the Slytherin seeker, followed.

Harry performed a textbook perfect Wronski Feint, pulling out of the dive with only inches to spare and sped off into the sky amid screams and cheers. Higgins, on the other hand was too slow at trying to pull up and had landed on the ground with a large thud, where he remained unmoving for five whole minutes. It was just after Higgins had managed to climb onto his broom woozily, that Harry had spotted the snitch. Racing towards it, Harry saw Higgins hesitate and sped up even further. From Higgins position there was no way he would reach the snitch first, so instead called for his beaters to send a bludger at Harry, and going after the snitch himself.

The first one missed by inches the second one breezed by his head. By the third time, Harry had caught on to what the other team was doing and he managed to roll away just in time. When he straightened up he was surprised to find Higgins at his side. The snitch was in front of them, fluttering just out of reach. Harry urged his broom to go faster and pulled ahead a couple of inches. Leaning out to catch the snitch another bludger caught him in the side. Ignoring the blinding pain in his ribs, Harry's fingers closed around the snitch.

"Harry James catches the snitch for Gryffindor! Gryffindor wins 400 to 210!" the commentator announced, as Harry was surrounded by his team mates. The pain in his side was becoming unbearable, and Harry wasn't able to concentrate on a thing anyone was saying. As the team floated down to the ground, Harry barely managing to stay on his broom. No sooner had they landed, Ginny was by Harry's side. Harry tried to smile at her, but the pain became too much and he collapsed onto the ground, unnoticed by the cerebrating students. Lily, Remus and Peter who had followed Ginny down from the stands gasped, as Ginny lifted up Harry's shirt to see the damage.

"He needs to go to the hospital wing." Ginny said to them and Lily called out over the celebratory cheers.

"James!"

"Lily, my lovely, we won! Don't frown, smile!"

"James this isn't funny. It's Harry!"

"What?" James yelled over the raucous crowd.

"It's Harry, he needs to go to the hospital wing!" Lily replied. James turned around and saw Harry on the ground.

"Oh Merlin," he ran to Harry's side, drawing the attention of most of the celebrating Gryffindors. The cheers turned to gasps, as everyone realised that their seeker was hurt.

"Someone get Madame Pomfrey!"

"Harry?" James called shaking Harry's shoulder. Ginny sat by Harry's side muttering every healing charm she knew, none of the seeming to make a difference. The bruise on Harry's side had already begun to swell and turn a nasty shade of black.

"That bludger must have hit him harder than I thought," James said, gazing at Harry's white face.

"Move aside, move aside," came the voice of the young matron as she made her way through the crowd followed closely by Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. Setting to work immediately, Madame Pomfrey muttered something about dangerous sports. After a few moments, she stood up and conjured a stretcher to put Harry on.

"He needs to go to the hospital wing, now," she said taking off up the hill with Harry floating at her side and Ginny hurrying along beside them.

James watched as they three figures made their way up the hill. All cheerful thoughts of celebration had left his head. Hearing a sniffle behind him, James turned and saw Lily standing beside him, her face white as tears fell from her big green eyes.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"I should never have said anything this morning," she whispered.

"What?" James asked.

"I should never have said anything this morning about people dying while playing quidditch," she sobbed. James smiled softly, and carefully placed his arms around her.

"Lily, Harry's not hurt because you said that people die in quidditch."

"What if I jinxed him?"

"You didn't jinx him. I don't believe in jinxes. Harry is lying in a bed in the hospital wing because McElroy pounded a solid and rather heavy iron ball into his body. Harry's not in the hospital wing because of something you said at breakfast." James smiled, as he felt her muscles relax under him. "You ok?" he asked. Lily nodded in reply, pulling away from him.

"Why don't we go see if we can visit him?" James suggested and Lily nodded again. Carefully, James took Lily's hand in his own and when she didn't pull away he smiled. Together they walked up to the castle in silence, Sirius, Remus and Peter trailing not far behind them. James savored the feel of Lily's hand in his and for once in his life he didn't say a word.

* * *

A/N: Ok, so, raise your hand if you are mad at Lizzie! So sorry it took me forever to update. I could come up with a million reasons/excuses, but I don't want to bore you all. Anyway, for those of you who have been with my story since the beginning, thank you for your patience! - Lizzie :-) 


	13. Chapter 13

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary[HPGW [RWHG [RLNT & [JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

The first thing he felt was pain shooting though his body. The sounds of chatter registered in his mind, followed soon after by smell, sweat mostly and a smell that was distinctly Ginny. Groaning, he opened his eyes to see a pair of big brown ones staring back at him.

"Harry, How are you feeling?" Ginny asked, but before he could answer, he found his head buried in a sea of red hair.

"Oh, Harry I'm so sorry. It's all my fault," Harry glanced over at Ginny who was smothering a laugh. 'Lily,' she mouthed when she realised that he hadn't known who it was. Harry's heart jumped, and he awkwardly brought his arms up to return his mother's hug for the very first time.

"Shhh, it's ok. I'm alright. It wasn't your fault."

"It is!" she sobbed into his shoulder, if I hadn't of said anything about getting killed…" she trailed off.

"Lily, I'm not dead. This happens all the time in quidditch, and this is nothing compared to the time the bludger broke my arm. Or that time I fell over a hundred feet!" he insisted, not hearing the groans coming from James, Ginny and Sirius. Lily pulled back from Harry and glared at him.

"You voluntarily play a sport where you routinely end up in hospital!" she shrieked as she glared at him. "And here I was worried to death about you! Unbelieveable!"

James snickered at the lecture Harry was receiving from Lily. Unfortunately for him, he found himself on the receiving end of a glare not only from Lily but also from Harry. Harry heard James gasp as his eyes moved from Harry to Lily and back again. He could practically hear the gears clicking over in James' head. It was at that moment that Madame Pomfrey appeared, and Harry had never been gladder to see the woman.

"Right, I want all of you out. Now!" she made her was over to Harry's bed muttering a spell. "The boy needs his rest." The group said goodbye to Harry, with the exception of James who continued to stare at him.

"Move, Mr Potter," the nurse said pushing him towards the hangings surrounding Harry's bed. With one last glace at Harry, he was gone.

A few minutes later, Madame Pomfrey left too, leaving Harry alone. James had figured something out. Harry was sure of it. 'It must have been the eyes', Harry thought. Sighing, he stared u pat the ceiling, dreading the moment he left the hospital wing.

* * *

James could not get to sleep that night. He had always known something was up with Harry. After all its not every day that a doppelganger arrives at your school. Even some of their mannerisms were the same, as Remus had pointed out to him one night in the common room. 

After the initial shock of seeing someone who looked remarkably like himself had warn off, James had noticed Harry's eyes. At the time they had seemed familiar, but he had been unable to place them. Now he was sure he knew where Harry had gotten his eyes. It was impossible though. It didn't make sense.

Suddenly, James was struck with and idea. Pushing back the blankets, James jumped out of bed and went to his trunk, quietly muttering the counter charms needed to unlock it. He pulled out his invisibility cloak, and as he shook it out a piece of parchment fell to the floor. James glanced at it and wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. He picked up the partially finished Marauder's Map and muttered the charm to make the contents appear. Most of the castle had been drawn out, it was just missing parts of the west tower and the secret passages, but otherwise it was working fine. Glancing at the part of the map that depicted the hospital wing, James nearly yelled in shock. There were only two dots in the hospital wing, one was Madame Pomfrey, the other was not Harry James like he half expected to see, but rather a name that held much more meaning.

Grabbing the invisibility cloak and making sure it was wrapped around him, James quietly left the dormitory, trying not to wake up the others. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. With the help of the map, he had been able to avoid being caught, and he stopped outside of the door, before heading in.

Harry too, had been lying awake in bed, and he looked over towards the door when he heard it open. Harry was confused when no one entered at first and then he heard footsteps on the stone floor.

"James?" Harry called out, softly.

He knew the footsteps were not Ginny's footsteps, and the only two other people that he knew could become invisible was Dumbledore and his father and Harry didn't think Dumbledore would need to become invisible to get around the school.

"How did you know it was me?" James asked, removing the cloak.

"Lucky guess," Harry replied sarcastically, as he struggled to sit up in bed.

"Who are you?" James asked more curious than angry.

"The map never lies," he replied, nodding to the map grasped firmly in James' hand.

"How did you know it was a map?"

"I'm not supposed to say," he evaded the question, looking away from James.

"How about I tell you what I think is going on?" James said and Harry nodded slightly.

"I think you are from the future. I think you are my son," he began nervously. Harry made no move to indicate the truthfulness of the statement. "You bear an uncanny resemblance to me and my father, the map which you yourself say 'never lies', says that your name is Harry Potter, not Harry James. The fact that you took my name as a last name is another clue. Plus you know way too much about You-Know-Who, who only rose to power a year or so ago." James was on a roll now. "The thing I find most curious is your eyes. The moment I saw them I recognized him, but I couldn't recall from where. Then when you and Lily glared at me here earlier today, I knew where they came from. That is when I realised that you were my son, and that Lily was your mother." Harry remained still. "Am I right?" he asked. Harry stared at the blankets.

"Harry?" James asked, now certain that he was right. "You-Know-Who killed us didn't he?" Harry nodded. "Your nightmares are of us," James stated rather than asked.

"Yes." James sat back on the bed, he had been expecting an answer like that, only hearing it made it seem so real.

Harry too, was unsure of what to say, so he opted to remain quiet and wait for James to make the first move. Together they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Wow," James finally managed to say.

"Look, D… ah-James. I don't expect you to act any differently towards me. No one is supposed to know, it could change the future. I might never be born, and that could have a detrimental effect on the future. You can't tell anyone. Not Sirius, not Remus, not Peter and especially not Lily. No one can know." Harry stressed the point.

James sat there in silence for a few more minutes.

"Look, Harry, I just need time to absorb all of this. It is a lot to process." Harry nodded and watched as James stood up off of the bed, and grabbed his invisibility cloak, pulling it around his shoulders. With one last glance back at Harry, he headed for the door.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore had seen a lot in his long life (which was quite a bit longer than everybody thought), he was considered to be the most wizened, most powerful wizard in England, if not the world. He had never in his long years seen anything as heartbreaking as the look on Harry's face, when James left the infirmary. Dumbledore, prided himself on remaining emotionally distant from everyone and everything. It was his own way of protecting himself. Ever since Harry Potter arrived back in 1977, everything felt different. He cared for this boy, more than he knew he should. It went beyond the teacher-student relationship, and into father-son relationship territory, or perhaps, more accurately, grandfather-grandson. 

Dumbledore had been keeping his eye on the young Gryffindor who had wormed his way into the old man's heart. He hated to think of the horrors the boy had been through, and it was these thoughts that led him to imagining what the future would be like. From what he had been able to discern, it appeared to be a very bleak future indeed. What puzzled the old mage the most, was the reason his future self would risk everything to send the Harry and Ginny back in time. Why these two children in particular and why here, in this time?

Perhaps the future Dumbledore felt that Harry needed more training, and his future self had been unable to provide that training. But then why was Ginny sent back in time too?

* * *

The next morning Harry was released from the hospital wing, and was allowed back to class. By the time Madame Pomfrey has finished fussing over him, breakfast was over and he had to run to get to his first lecture on time. By the time he sidled into the class room the only seat left was next to Severus and in front of James and Sirius. 

"Nice of you to make it, Mr James," Professor Dearborn said, smiling at him. Harry flinched slightly at his name.

"Sorry I was late," Harry replied, but the professor waved it away.

"Nonsense, I am glad to see that the bludger didn't do any permanent damage to you. Now kindly take a seat, and I shall begin the lesson." Harry slipped into the desk beside Severus, and he felt James's stare, boring into the back of his head.

"Ok, students, today we are continuing to learn about Dark Creatures. Can anyone tell me the name of a creature that can kill you with nothing more than a glance in your direction?"

Harry groaned and placed his head on the desk.

"Mr James, am I boring you?" Professor Dearborn asked, walking up to Harry's desk. Harry raised his head and looked up at the professor.

"No, sir," he replied.

"Do you know the answer?" Harry sighed.

"It's a basilisk," he replied.

"Very good, Mr James. Can you tell me anything about them?"

"They are the King of the Serpents. They can grow to great lengths, around 50 feet, I think, and they can live for hundreds of years. If you look directly into their eyes, you will die. If you look at them indirectly, say in a reflection, then you will only be stunned. Their fangs are highly poisonous, their venom kills you within minutes."

"How are they created?" the Professor asked.

"They are wizard made, from a chicken egg hatched under a toad."

"Why is it rare for a wizard to have a basilisk?"

"You mean apart from the fact they would make a terrible pet?" Harry asked sarcastically. Professor Dearborn chuckled.

"Yes."

"They can only be controlled by a parseltongue," Harry replied, the sarcasm gone from his voice.

"Excellent, Mr James. 10 points to Gryffindor."

Professor Dearborn continued on with the lesson, going into greater detail, but Harry tuned him out. He knew all that he cared to about basilisks. All too soon, Harry heard the scraping of chairs indicating that the lesson had finished.

"Mr James?" Harry looked up to see Professor Dearborn looking at him. "A word, if you please." Harry packed his books away and trudged up to his teacher's desk.

"Mr James, I've noticed over the last few weeks that you seem to have an extraordinary amount of knowledge of the dark arts for a student." Harry just stared at the professor, unsure of what to say. "Dementors, acromantulas and basilisks, not to mention all of the basic dark creatures, kappas, hinky punks, grindylows." The professor turned towards the blackboard.

"I'm curious, Mr James, what is it about the dark arts that interests you?"

"How do you know it interests me?" Harry asked. The professor looked at Harry over his shoulder.

"To be good at anything in life, you must first have an interest in it," he replied, turning back to face the board. Harry remained quiet. "I ask again, why are you interested in the dark arts?"

"I'm not a death eater, if that is what you are asking," Harry said, anger seeping into his tone. Professor Dearborn chuckled, and turned back to face Harry.

"Yes I was in a round about way, but now I am even more curious. Why do you have so much knowledge of the dark arts, if you do not intent to use it?"

"So I can defend myself against it," he replied.

"Why should you need to defend yourself against it?" the Professor asked, leaning closer towards Harry. "You are a child. What, in Merlin's name, would the Dark Lord have against you?"

"I stole his life," Harry replied, as he picked up his bag and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned defence professor staring after him.

* * *

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Sirius asked a downcast James, as they walked to transfiguration. 

"Nothing," James replied, shrugging off the hand that Sirius had placed on his shoulder.

"Something's wrong, Evans has been walking in front of us since we left defence, and you haven't said a word to or about her," Sirius said, placing his hand on James' forehead.

"Get off," James said pushing Sirius' hand away, and walking on ahead.

"What's his problem?" Peter asked.

"I don't know?" Sirius replied. "Moony?"

"I haven't a clue," the werewolf replied, concern for his friend etched on his face.

"What ever it is, I hope he gets over it soon. I hate it when he's moody," Sirius said as he jumped the trick stair.

* * *

Over the next few days, James' mood had not improved. He had noticeably ignored Harry, and he was distancing himself from the others at the same time. He had even stopped harassing Lily, which had even her confused. 

One morning, in late October, James left the hall without the other and by the time they arrived at the Charms classroom, James was already sitting next to a Hufflepuff. Looking slightly hurt they took their seats, Sirius beside Peter and Remus beside Harry.

Harry paid very little attention, and instead concentrated on staring at the back of his father's head, trying to work out how to get his father to talk to him. The bell rang too soon for Harry's liking, and he hurriedly stuffed his books away, in an effort to catch up to James, who had already made a hasty exit.

While the majority of students headed to the great hall for lunch, Harry followed his father out onto the grounds.

"James!" he called out, and his father turned around.

"Oh, it's you," he muttered, turning back around and continuing to walk on.

"Yeah, it's me. Remember me? Your own flesh and blood!" Harry yelled.

"What do you want?" James asked, irritated as he turned to face Harry.

"I want you to acknowledge my existence," Harry replied, standing defiantly in front of his father.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"I don't care if it's as Harry James or Harry Potter, but I want you to acknowledge me. You don't have to like me, or be friends with me, but don't pretend that I don't exist. I can't handle that, not from you." James stared at his son, his eyes blank, and devoid of emotion.

"I'm not ready to be a father," James muttered.

"Did I ask you to be one?" Harry questioned, and James just turned away from him. Harry sighed.

"While I understand why you won't talk to me, what I don't understand is why you won't talk to your friends? Do you realise how lucky you are to have friends like them? Sirius and Remus would die for you, and it is hurting them that you won't talk to them. They are your best friends and they deserve better than that."

James kept his back to Harry, unmoving. Harry stared at his father for a few more minutes, before heading back up towards the castle. James wasn't ready to deal with fatherhood, and marriage yet. Harry could understand to an extent. They were only seventeen after all. Yet it was James's inability to acknowledge him that had Harry worried. What if he had put James off of the idea of having children? What if he had put James off of loving Lily? What if he had just erased his own birth, and changed the course of history forever?

* * *

A/N: Woah, sorry about the delay!! I had to re-write this chapter so many times, because I didn't like the way it was going. Anyway, hopefully it's alright now. I hope you enjoy. Happy Reading - Liz 


	14. Chapter 14

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary[HPGW[RWHG[RLNT & [JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

Soon enough, Halloween was upon them. With that came the annual feast and a trip to Hogsmeade Village. At first Dumbledore was reluctant to allow Ginny and Harry to go, but after Ginny had asked for a moment alone with Dumbledore, he had caved quite quickly. Harry wasn't sure if he ever wanted to know what the small red-headed witch had said to the ancient and powerful wizard in order to make him agree.

Harry and Ginny allowed the marauders to take the lead, Sirius acting as a guide, and Remus correcting all of Sirius' mistakes.

"See that house over there, that is the home of 'Left-Handed Ned'. You see they called him Left-Handed Ned, 'cause his right hand was bitten off by a Welsh Green he was trying to stop from attacking a village out near Aberdeen."

"Sirius, they call him 'Left-Handed Ned' because he cast a spell that backfired and blew his hand off. The man was a danger when it came to magic and should never have been allowed a wand," Remus said shaking his head at Sirius.

"Moony, I'm just trying to brighten the story up," Sirius whined. "Stop being a grumbly git."

"I'm not being a grumbly git, and besides grumbly isn't even a word."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Oi! You two!" James yelled. "Shut up." He stormed off, leaving the others behind.

After Harry had given his father a dressing down. James had gone back and apologized to his friends for his rude behaviour. However, he still remained in a temperamental mood.

"What's up his butt?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. He's been acting strange for a while now." Sirius said.

"Ever since Harry was in the hospital wing," Remus added, looking at Harry. "Do you know what has him so upset?" he asked him.

Harry hesitated before answering. "No, he hasn't said anything to me."

"I wouldn't worry about it Moony, you know James, he gets into these moods. He'll get over it soon enough," Sirius said clapping Remus on the shoulder. The five of them continued on their path towards Hogsmeade, each one subconsciously looking out for their missing member.

Harry felt slightly guilty, it was, after all, his fault that James was in his bad mood. If James hadn't found out the truth, then he would be there beside his friends, instead of sulking off by himself.

* * *

For the next few hours, they went from shop to shop. Harry felt his legs steadily going numb with cold. While it wasn't snowing, the air held a chill that went right to Harry's bones. It had been growing colder all day, and Harry found himself trying to fight off shivers. 

They had just exited the Three Broomsticks when it happened. He hadn't had any warning, and the pain that shot through him was unbearable. With a scream he collapsed onto his knees, his hands clutching his head.

"Harry?" Sirius asked, bending down to help him. Ginny took one look at Harry and began to yell out instructions.

"Everyone! Inside, now! Get inside, lock your doors! Hide!" Everyone within hearing range of her looked at her like she was a mad woman. Ginny pulled out her wand and began surveying the village around her.

"Move! Get inside!" she screamed again. Some people started to obey her, others just ignored her and some, Sirius, Remus and Peter included, continued to look at her as though she had grown another head.

"Ginny, what's going on?" Remus asked.

"Get inside now," Ginny hissed, helping a trembling Harry up off of the ground.

"She's right," Harry groaned, trying to block out the throbbing in his head. "Get inside now."

"Harry? What?" Sirius began, but was stopped by the sound of a scream and a lot of loud footsteps. Harry glanced up and sure enough the unmistakable sight of twenty or more Death Eaters marched down the street, killing and torturing everyone in sight.

"Death Eaters," Harry muttered, pushing Remus and Sirius towards the open doorway of the nearest store. "Get a message to Dumbledore," he said before shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Ginny," Harry said, indicating that she too should leave.

"Don't even think about it, Harry," Ginny said, coming to stand beside him.

"Worth a shot," he mumbled, and pulled the both of them into the nearest alleyway, and behind some crates, out of sight of the Death Eaters. Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket. "Just stay back until I tell you," he muttered to Ginny. Creeping towards the edge of the alley he peeked around the corner.

The Death Eaters were getting closer and closer. People were running for the nearest buildings and throwing themselves inside. Smoke filled the air, making the visibility difficult. Harry watched as a house in the distance went up in flames, and he shuddered at the screams that pierced the air.

The Death Eaters were within range, and Harry wordlessly began to cast stunners towards them. The first one fell and the other looked around trying to see where the stunners were coming from. The next few he cast in quick succession, taking out at least four more. As curses started being thrown in his direction, Harry ran back into the alley and took Ginny's hand apparating both of them out of there and into another alley further down the street that Harry vaguely remembered from his own trips into Hogsmeade. Peering out, Harry found that they were now positioned behind the majority of the Death Eaters. Though some remained standing guard outside of buildings, while they burnt to the ground, and others, Harry assumed, were inside the buildings.

Quietly, quickly and efficiently Harry with the help of Ginny took out all of the guards without a problem. Then they started sending stunners towards the main pack, taking out a few more. The Death Eaters, if they had noticed their numbers diminishing, took no notice, and continued to march down the street. As they got closer to the centre of the village, the number of screams increased. Harry, after checking that Ginny would be ok by herself, apparated to the front of Honeydukes, only several yards away from the front of the pack of Death Eaters.

Taking quick stock of the situation, Harry realised that there were very few people fighting back. Most had run inside. He saw a couple of wizards sending weak jinxes and minor hexes towards the intruders, but Harry knew from experience that it wouldn't be enough. Harry began to wonder if the Death Eaters had even noticed his arrival, until a lazy curse was sent in his direction, which Harry easily dodged. This took a couple of the Death Eaters by surprise. A few more nasty curses and hexes were sent his was, and Harry easily avoided them all, before sending a few excellent curses back at them. A couple more Death Eaters fell to the ground unconscious.

Harry realised that he was starting to gather the attention of most of the pack, and he smirked. Obviously, they weren't expecting a kid to fight back. The Death Eater in the front of the pack was close enough to Harry that he could hear him chuckle.

"Hey, Kid, there is only one of you and many more of us. You honestly think you will escape this alive?" Harry only smirked in response, wordlessly sending a quick, but powerful, blasting curse at the leader, sending him flying into a cart of dragon dung sitting outside of the apothecary. From his lack of movement, Harry guessed that he had been knocked out.

The Death Eaters appeared momentarily stunned, before turning and aiming for Harry.

"You dare attack an Avery? You will die for that one, you blood-traitor." Harry watched a cruciatus curse head his way and dived to the side just in time. As the Death Eaters turned on him, he noticed that the pack kept getting smaller and smaller. Harry noticed Ginny, Sirius and Remus casting spells at the Death Eaters from behind. Turning his attention back to the advancing Death Eaters and their flying curses, Harry tried to focus on avoiding the spells, but he realised that there were too many of them. Instead he raised his shield, one that he had been practicing on over the summer. It blocked all minor and a lot of major spells and curses. Some, if powerful enough, were able to penetrate it.

Wondering how he was going to get himself out of this one, Harry caught movement in the corner of his eye, and he took his eyes off of the Death Eaters just long enough to see James, staring from him to the Death Eaters and back again.

"Get inside!" Harry yelled over the roar of the Death Eaters. James remained where he was standing. "Oi, you lunatic, get inside!" James looked at Harry as though he had grown two heads.

Some of the Death Eaters noticed James' presence and started aiming spells at him. Dodging them, James ran towards Harry.

"I can't let you deal with this by yourself, what kind of father would I be!" he yelled sending a couple of stunners at the Death Eaters.

"The kind who doesn't want his son born!" Harry yelled in reply, lowering his shield. Harry sent a cutting curse at the Death Eater closest to him, splitting his chest open. Harry flinched as he watched the bright red blood flow from the open wound. James, paused his barrage of spells to watch the blood as well, the shock evident on his face. Harry watched as a curse hurtled towards his father and Harry dove to push him out of the way. The cutting curse caught Harry's shoulder, and Harry bit his lip to keep from screaming out in pain.

"The first rule of combat," Harry yelled, pushing himself up, off of his father. "Never take your eyes off of the enemy." Harry stood in front of James, who was still lying on the ground. There were only a handful of Death Eaters remaining. Seeing their fate if they continued to remain, they disapparated. Harry looked at the carnage around them. About 20 Death Eaters lay wounded, stunned, petrified. The leader that Harry had blasted was dead, so too was the man he had hit with the cutting curse. A curse he wasn't proud of casting.

"Accio, Death Eater wands," Harry muttered and he bent down to collect the pile of wands that had landed at his feet. He didn't want to risk one of them waking up and casting a curse.

Standing back up he surveyed the area around him. The Death Eaters weren't the only casualties. Harry could see the bodies of a dozen or more Hogwarts students, several adults as well. One whole end of Hogsmeade, from Dervish and Banges down to Zonko's was a pile of smoldering ashes. The smell of burnt flesh permeating the air nearly caused Harry to lose his lunch. After all of the chaos, the silence seemed unnerving. Harry caught Ginny's eye, and he saw the relief in her eyes at seeing him alive, and he knew that it mirrored his own. Her gaze grew worried when she saw the blood pouring down his arm. Hurrying over to his side, she quickly and efficiently cast a binding charm on his skin to hold it together.

"It's not much," she whispered. "But it will hold it together, until Madame Pomfrey, can get to you."

"Thank you," Harry whispered in reply. Ginny gave him a small smile, and headed over to tend to the injured.

Gradually, people started emerging from the buildings, and Harry turned to face his father, who was no standing behind him.

"He died," James said staring past Harry.

"Who," Harry asked, turning to see what he was looking at. His eyes fell on the slain Death Eater. "Oh, yeah." Harry replied, stepping towards the body. Kneeling down, he slid the mask off of the man's face. It wasn't one that he recognized.

"You killed a man!" James yelled, gaining the attention of those nearby. Harry looked into James' eyes.

"Come here," Harry said, gesturing him towards the body. James hesitated.

"Why?"

"I need to show you something and you can't see it from over there," Harry snapped, losing his patience. James moved to stand beside Harry. Harry pulled back the sleeve of the Death Eater beside him.

"See this mark here?" Harry asked, pointing to the Dark Mark. "See this tattoo?"

"This is the Dark Mark. Every one of Voldemort's minions carries one of these. It's his link to them. He feeds himself on the magic coursing through their veins. The moment they get this mark, they cease to be a person and become another pawn in Voldemort's game." Harry dropped the armed and it fell back down to the ground. Harry reached up and closed the Death Eaters eyes.

"What in Godric's name happened here?" Professor McGonagall voice brought Harry out of his dark thoughts. He turned to see the Head of his House and Dumbledore as well as several other teachers striding towards them. Dumbledore set his sites on Harry.

"I came here as soon as I got the message," he said, coming to a stop in front of the father and son.

"Well, you're too late," Harry spat a surge of anger running through his body. "I don't know the exact numbers, but…"

"Eleven stunned Death Eaters, seven more unconscious, two dead. Thirteen dead students, ten more injured. About twenty dead civilians, most of whom died when their building caught fire, another thirty or so injured," Ginny rattled off coming to stand beside Harry, Remus and Sirius beside her. Harry felt his blood boil.

"Where the hell were you?" he yelled! "What took you so long?" Dumbledore, seemed taken aback by the rage pouring from the young man in front of him.

"Harry, I assure you I got here as soon as I got your message."

"Well it wasn't good enough! Too many are dead. Too many are hurt. It wasn't good enough. There was no warning! I tried to save them, I tried but I couldn't save them all!" Harry cried, falling into a heap on the ground, with Ginny and James at his side.

* * *

A/N: Thank you, for all of your wonderful reviews!! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's my first attempt at writing a real action sequence like this, so I hope it was alright. Thanks for reading!! - Liz 


	15. Chapter 15

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

Dumbledore surveyed the scene. Twenty Death Eaters lay on the ground in front of him. So far in Voldemort's rise to power very few Death Eaters had been killed or captured by aurors, and yet in the space of approximately twenty minutes, Harry had handed the ministry twenty Death Eaters. Granted two of them were dead, and wouldn't be of much use, however the other eighteen were going to prove very useful in this fight.

It had worried Dumbledore to find out that Harry had caused the death of two men. Taking the life of a fellow man wasn't easy for anyone, let alone a seventeen year old. Dumbledore had sent Sirius, Remus, Harry, Ginny and James back to the school with the instructions to wait in his office. Harry had looked like a walking corpse. Dumbledore sighed, it was all too much for a young boy.

Glancing down at the dead body at his feet, Dumbledore noticed the sleeve pushed up and a black mark visible on the skin, the skull with the snake through its mouth. The symbol, had become synonymous with Voldemort these days, and Dumbledore fought back the shiver of dread that threatened to creep up his spine. The man was gaining power and respect far too quickly. The people were easy pray after decades of peace, and Voldemort promised a lot to them; power, riches, fame, respect. The combined personality traits of ignorance and greed were proving to be a deadly combination.

* * *

Sirius, Remus and James each collapsed into an armchair that James had transfigured for them, while Ginny crouched next to the chair that Harry was sitting in. It had taken the four of them a while to half-drag, half-carry Harry all the way from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. The boy was practically catatonic. 

James too, was still in a state of shock. He had just watched his friend, his son, kill two men. He wasn't quite sure what to feel. On one hand he was proud of Harry for standing up against the Death Eaters, on the other he thought he was a bloody fool for getting caught up in midst of it all. Then there was the tiny part of him that felt horrified and sick that his own flesh and blood turned out to be capable of killing a man.

James knew that Harry must have played a large part in the upcoming war back in his time, why else would he have traveled back in time. Surely they wouldn't let just anyone mess with time. Sneaking a look over at Harry who was staring at the floor as though fascinated by the stone texture, James couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't the first time that Harry had killed a man.

* * *

Ginny was worried about Harry. He hadn't spoken a word since he yelled at Dumbledore in the middle of Hogsmeade Village. She knew he was taking the death of the two Death Eaters hard. But she knew that it was the death of so many innocent people that was tearing him up inside. They had all come to the realization that people were going to die in this war, but that didn't stop it from hurting when people who never signed up for the war were killed. She could see the gears ticking over in Harry's head as he blamed himself. She placed a hand on his arm to soothe him when suddenly a million thoughts seemed to enter her head. 

"_If I had only responded faster." _

"_If only I hadn't been practicing occulomency, I may have been given earlier notice." _

"_They are all dead and it is because of me." _

"_I let them all down."_

"_I killed those people."_

"_They were innocent and I killed them." _

"_It's all my fault." _

Ginny felt her rage begin to grow. Forgetting that anyone else was in the room, she pulled back from Harry and came to kneel in front of him.

"HARRY JAMES!" she screeched, doing an awfully good impression of her mother. "You get that nonsense out of your head right this second! There was absolutely nothing you could have done!" Ginny lifted his face so that he was looking at her. "None of this is your fault, and you are stupid if you think otherwise! If it wasn't for you the attack could have been catastrophic! Everyone could have died!" She stole a glance at James, Sirius and Remus who were looking at her with mixed expressions of fear and surprised. Ginny lowered her voice and ran her fingers down Harry's cheek, sending calming waves of energy through her and into him. "You saved so many people today," she whispered, a smile on her face. "You by no means let anybody down. You are not responsible for their deaths. You were brave and courageous and you fought more than twenty Death Eaters and won. Ron would be so jealous."

Harry stared into her eyes, and she could feel the immense sadness emanating from him and she swore she could feel his every emotion.

"I killed two men today," he whispered, tears in his eyes. Ginny gathered him in her arms.

"I know," she whispered into his ear. "I know."

Ginny was startled by a sudden flash, and there in the corner on the perch next to Dumbledore's desk was Fawkes. Within moments the room was filled with the beautiful melody of the phoenix and Ginny felt Harry relax in her arms. Slowly, he started swaying to the music. Fawkes swooped over to sit on the arm rest of Harry's chair, his head bowed to rest on Harry's injured arm. The pearly white tears flowed and soon there was no indication that Harry's arm had been scratched let alone almost detached from his body. Fawkes continued to trill long after Harry's whispered 'thank you', and Ginny was astounded at Harry's sudden change in emotions. The sadness, though not erased, had subsided some what.

"Thank you, Fawkes" Ginny said, and the phoenix bent his head in reply.

Moments later, the door to Dumbledore's office opened with a bang and in strode the headmaster himself, followed shortly there after by another man dressed in a dark muggle suit and a woman in dark burgundy robes with 'MoM' emblazoned on the pocket.

"Dumbledore really I must protest. The students should be sent home. Hogwarts is no longer safe."

"I think you will find Minister, that Hogwarts is the safest place to be."

"Why is that?" the witch asked.

"Because, Isadora, You-Know-Who will not step foot inside this castle."

"Voldemort," a voice from the corner spoke up.

"What?" the Minister spluttered, turning, angrily, to see five students sitting in chairs watching him.

"His name is Voldemort. Well actually it's Tom Riddle, but if I said 'Tom Riddle' you wouldn't have any idea who I was talking about."

"Dumbledore, what are these children doing in your office?" the Minister asked.

"They are here because I asked them to be here."

"Well tell them to go back to their houses, we have a serious and confidential matters that need to be discussed."

"They can stay," Dumbledore said as he sat down on his chair and reached over to pet Fawkes.

"Dumbledore, be serious, they are children!" the witch, Isadora, implored.

"Exactly, this is adult only business, children, so off you go," the minister motioned towards the door.

"Mr Potter, Mr James, Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Miss Granger, please remain seated. Minister, I think you will find it beneficial to have them sit in on our meeting, they are, after all, the ones who handed you twenty death eaters. Isadora, I believe that Harry here has more than doubled the number of death eaters imprisoned, has he not?" Dumbledore looked at the Head of Magical Law Enforcement over the top of his glasses.

"Yes… well…" the witch stuttered.

"The death eaters have never attacked in a group before, Dumbledore. It's only been small skirmishes, previous to this. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has never had the opportunity to capture so many death eaters at once," the Minister stepped in to explain for his Department Head who seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Mere details," Dumbledore replied. "The children stay."

The minister appeared rather affronted by Dumbledore's decision, but knew better than to question the man that he relied heavily upon for help and political support.

"Fine, but the children really should be sent home. We don't know what You-Know-Who is capable of. You are a powerful wizard Dumbledore, but can you really say that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will not attack the castle."

"Yes," Harry spoke up again.

"And why is that, young man," Isadora asked.

"Because Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard that Voldemort is afraid of," Ginny spoke up.

"Thank you, Miss Granger, but I-" Dumbledore began, before Harry interrupted.

"No, it's because Hogwarts is his home."

Everyone turned to look at Harry.

"I don't understand," Isadora said, looking at Harry with confusion.

"No one does," Harry muttered. "He won't attack the school. At least not yet," he added as an afterthought.

"Fine, say You-Know-Who-"

"Voldemort," Harry interrupted the minister. "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." The minister stared at Harry.

"Say, he doesn't attack the castle. Dumbledore you are going to have parents wanting to take their students home. They will demand the closure of this school. How are you going to stop it?"

"Minister, do not think that I am naïve enough not to know that parents will want to pull their children out of school Of that I have very little doubt, but as Minister of Magic you should be encourage parents to leave their children here. You need to assure them that they are in just as much danger at Hogwarts, as they would be at home. The only difference is that here they can learn to defend themselves. You will also need to let them know that the ministry is doing everything in its power to protect the people."

"How?" Isadora asked.

"How?" Dumbledore replied, unsure of what the minister was asking.

"How do we protect the people? We don't know when they will attack, we don't know who they are, we don't know…" she trailed off.

"WHAT!" an outraged Sirius leapt to his feet. "Are you seriously telling me that the magical law enforcement office does not know how to protect us?! What kind of sick joke is that?"

"Young man, it has been decades since we have faced an enemy such as this. The last one was Grindlewald, thirty-two years ago." Harry noticed Dumbledore shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"So? Isn't it your responsibility to know how to protect us. What do you lot do all day, sit around with your thumbs up your-"

"Alright, Sirius we get the picture," Remus grabbed Sirius' arm and yanked him back down onto the chair.

"Sirius has a point. How so you expect us to turn to you, when the most you can offer us is a weak assurance that everything is going to be alright. You are lazy and pathetic and in one hour , Harry here handed you more death eaters than your entire office has arrested since You-kno…" James looked at Harry. "Voldemort rose to power. You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Young man, what right do you have to slander the Magical Law Enforcement Office in that manner," the minister spluttered. "You are nothing more than a child-" Sirius and James both stood up in outrage at the minister's comment and began to yell back at him. Soon enough there was a screaming match going on, both side trying to make their point to the other.

* * *

Harry's head began to pound and he felt the familiar presence of Voldemort in his mind. He was angry, livid even. He closed his eyes, and slapped his hand to his scar as a searing heat went through it. A red light flashed before his eyes and then he felt nothing but pain. He could hear screaming, presumably from Voldemort's victim, and then the world went black. 

Voldemort walked the perimeter of the circle of death eaters who had returned to his hide out after the attack on Hogsmede. Too many were missing for his liking. As he listened to the account of what happened from those who did return to him, Voldemort felt his fury grow. How dare this dark-haired scrawny kid take out some of his best death eaters. He was supposed to be powerful, he was supposed to have a powerful army. He had been made a mockery by this stupid poorly bred child.

"Harris and West," Voldemort roared and two men cloaked in black with white masks covering their faces stepped forward. "Get Malfoy, Bulstrode, McKinnon, O'Leary, Nott, Vanguard and the rest of that group. We're changing the schedule and going after Diagon Alley… tonight." With a flash of light, Harris and West disappeared from the circle. Voldemort continued to circle the remaining death eaters. He needed to get to the child.

"My fellow pursuers of the pure, I cannot let this mudblood filth stop me from my mission. I am going to need a spy, and I have just the person."

Voldemort pressed his wand to dark mark and within moments a person appeared before him.

"My Lord, you wanted me," the person asked.

"Yes, I have a very important task for you. But first…" he trailed off as he sent a cruciatus curse at the newcomer. After a number of minutes, he released the curse. "You can expect more of that if you fail me," Voldemort said to the shaking person on the ground before him. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord," the figure replied.

"Good. I need you to spy on that boy who caused the death of a couple of my death eaters and the arrest of several more. They say he goes by the name of Harry, do you know of whom I am speaking?"

"Yes, my Lord," the figure replied.

"Good. Report back when you have something."

"Yes, my Lord." With a flash of light the figure was gone.

* * *

The moment Harry's body became rigid, Dumbledore knew what was happening. Moving from his position behind the desk, he raced to Harry's side determined to do whatever he could to help. The argument continued until Harry's scream pierced the air, then both sides stopped to watch the event unfold. 

"What's happening?" the minister demanded, looking at Harry as though he was possessed. Dumbledore ran a hand over his weary face, and began to answer but was beaten by Ginny.

"He's having a vision," she said quickly. "He's a seer." Dumbledore looked at the red-headed witch as she caught his eye, silently begging him to go along with the story. Moments later Harry stopped shaking, and slouched limply on the chair.

"My boy, what did you see?" he asked.

"He's angry. Diagon Alley, tonight," Harry gasped.

The room was eerily quiet except for the whirring, buzzing and ticking of Dumbledore's many gadgets.

"The boy sees what's going to happen?" Isadora asked, breaking he silence.

"That is the definition of a seer is it not?" James sneered, not taking his eyes off of Harry.

"Useful, very useful," the minister began.

"No!" Ginny yelled, her anger making her cheeks match her hair.

"No what?" the minister asked.

"You will not use Harry's ability for the benefit of the ministry."

Dumbledore chuckled, the young witch was certainly astute.

"But think of the potential benefits," the minister began.

"I don't care about the benefits. Harry is a person and you will not use him like an object."

"Dumbledore, really I must protest. Think of all of the lives we could save with his knowledge."

"I can assure you minister, that young Harry's 'knowledge' does not go to waste," Dumbledore said standing from his kneeling position beside Harry. "No if you will excuse us minister. You have business to attend to and so do I."  
"Dumbledore, this is not the last time you will hear of this matter. We will be discussing it again in the near future," the minister said, heading towards the doors.

"I cannot wait," Dumbledore replied somewhat sarcastically. "Good day to you minister, Isadora." With a nod of the head, the minister and his head of department left.

"Now, Harry, do you want to tell me the rest of it?" Dumbledore asked, once he was sure the door was shut. Harry looked at him in shock.

"It is obvious to one who deals with teenagers all day that you were not telling me everything," he explained. Harry's eyes darkened.

"He's sending a spy into Hogwarts, to find out more information about me."

"Do you know who?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, I never got to see his face." Dumbledore was certain that, Harry wasn't telling him everything, but he understood why he couldn't reveal more.

"If you will excuse me boys and girl, there are some people that I need to get in contact with, if I am to help prevent a tragedy tonight. I think that it is best that you go back to your common room, and don't speak of any of this to anyone else. These are dark times and you do not know who you can trust." The students stood up and left Dumbledore's, Harry with the assistance of Ginny.

* * *

After walking down a flight of stairs and down several corridors, Sirius flung open the door of an unused classroom and pushed everyone inside. 

"Can someone please tell me what in Merlin's name is going on? Harry's a seer? He just killed two people and yelled at the minister of magic. I just yelled at the minister of magic. Hogsmede has been attacked. What is going on, nothing is making any sense!" Sirius yelled. Harry couldn't determine if he looked shocked, angry, scared or proud.

"Shut up, you fool," James said clamping a hand over Sirius' mouth. "Don't go yelling these things!" James said in a loud whisper. "At least not without putting up a silencing charm first, you nitwit," he added, raising his wand and muttering the silencing charm.

"Harry's not a seer," Ginny said, leading Harry over to a chair in the middle of the classroom.

"Then what was that…" Remus paused searching for the right word. "Episode back there?"

"Voldemort and I share a mind connection." Harry winced at the gasps that Sirius and Remus made. "I'm not a Death Eater," he said, sensing their train of thought. "It's the result of something that happened when I was a kid. When Voldemort killed my parents." Harry looked over at James who had slumped against a desk. "Basically, it means that sometimes I can feel his moods, or see what he sees. It's how I know when and where he will attack. I have to be careful though, that he doesn't realise that I am there, or else he can see what I see and feel what I feel."

"What about when you went rigid and started shaking?" Remus asked.

"The cruciatus curse," Harry replied, almost in a bored tone.

"You can feel his curses?" Remus asked.

"No, not all of them, just the particularly nasty ones, such as the unforgivables."

"You were brilliant back in Hogsmede, fighting the Death Eaters," Sirius said, admiration glowing on his face.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, hanging his head low.

"Where did you learn to fight so well? Can you teach me?" Sirius was practically bouncing around the classroom.

"Yes, you do fight extremely well for a seventeen-year-old," Remus said disbelievingly. "And you seem to have quite the talent for the dark arts, you are already top of our class." Harry flinched at Remus' obvious distrust. Harry knew that Remus had been suspicious before the battle of Hogsmede, now that suspicion had to have doubled.

"You are, perhaps, even more knowledgeable than Professor Dearborn," Remus continued. "Your teacher must have had a strong interest in the dark arts." At this Harry couldn't help himself. He began to laugh, and laugh and laugh, until tears were pouring out of his eyes and he was gasping for breath. Even Ginny's face held a wide grin.

"What's so funny?" Remus asked, obviously not pleased with Harry's reaction.

"Ask- ask me that again, in t-twenty years," Harry replied, once again overcome with laughter. Looking at James, Harry could see that he seemed to have caught on and was chuckling quietly.

"Seriously, what's so funny?" Sirius asked utterly confused. Harry's laughing subsided, somewhat.

"Nothing, it's… nothing," Harry replied. "Remus, what do you know of phoenixes?" Harry asked. Remus looked curious at the line of questioning.

"Uh… they… ah… die and are reborn from the ashes " he replied.

"What else?"

"They are vary rare."

"Anything else?"

"They choose the familiars not the other way around."

"What sort of people do they choose as familiars?"

"Those who are pure of heart." Harry looked Remus in the eyes and called out,

"Fawkes!" Within moments there was a flash of light, and Fawkes appeared on the desk in front of Harry.

"_You called Master Potter, and could you please make it quick. I have rather a lot to do tonight." _Harry felt bad, he forgot that Fawkes would be doing a lot of work for Dumbledore tonight.

"_Sorry Fawkes, I forgot. What's being done?"_

"_Master Dumbledore took your advice in regards to the Order of the Phoenix, and has spent the last couple of weeks recruiting members. Our numbers are still fairly low, but we have people in influential places. I am supposed to be out warning them as we speak. The plan is to locate ourselves close to Diagon Alley, or in Diagon Alley if it is possible and try to get as many innocent people out as we can. Those who volunteer will remain behind and fight the Death Eaters when they come."_

"_Warn them to watch out for inferi and dementors," _Harry replied.

"_Why__? Did you have another vision?" _Fawkes cocked his head to the side, peering at Harry curiously.

"_No, it's just he's used them in the past. My past, that is." _Fawkes nodded and agreed that it was best to be prepared. After thanking Harry for the information, Fawkes disappeared in a burst of light.

"Do you trust me know?" he asked Remus, who was looking at Harry in shock. Remus nodded his head.

"Were you talking to him" James asked.

"Yes, why? Didn't you hear me?" Ginny shook her head.

"No we just heard you both trilling."

The group remained in silence for several minutes, as everyone tried to wrap their heads around everything that had happened. Eventually, Harry broke the silence.

"Listen, I would appreciate it if you lot didn't tell anyone. If word of my 'ability' got out…" he trailed off.

"No, problem mate," Sirius replied, coming over and slapping his hand down on Harry's shoulder.  
"What about Peter?" Remus asked.

"No!" Harry replied quickly, a little too quickly. "Sorry, I know that he is your friend, but I feel that the less people who know the better."

"True, and let's face it Petey isn't exactly the world's best secret-keeper," James said laughing heartily for the first time in a number of weeks. Harry, on the other hand, forced a smile on his face as he fought to keep his stomach contents down. _'If you only remembered that when it was most important, Dad,'_ Harry found himself thinking.

"We should probably get going. I expect dinner will be served soon," Ginny said standing up from her spot crouched next to Harry's chair. It was good timing too, as Sirius' stomach let out a loud growl, sending everyone into fits of laughter. As they were walking out the door, James who had been trailing behind reached out to stop Harry from leaving.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, Harry nodded and followed James back into the classroom.

"What did you mean?" James asked, and Harry looked at him in confusion.

"When?" Harry prompted, not knowing what he was talking about.

"When you said I was the kind of father who didn't want to see his son born."

"Oh, that," Harry replied, looking at his feet, then back up at his father. "You could have gotten killed," he said eventually.

"So? So could've you!" Harry stared at his father.

"If I get killed it doesn't matter-"

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Well it does matter, just not as much as it would if you were killed."

"Well it matters to me! I'm your father! I don't want to sit on the sidelines as I watch my son die!"

"Don't you get it?" Harry asked in exacerbation

"Get what?"

"If you die, everything gets screwed up! If you die, you and Mum never get together! If you die, then I will never have existed!"

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the wait, but I compromised by giving you a chapter that is a bit longer than the last couple. I am glad that you all seem to be liking the story. Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, they help keep me writing. Happy Reading! – Liz 


	16. Chapter 16

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

James could do little else but think about his own sense of stupidity. How could he have been so thick-headed? He had never thought about the consequences of his actions beyond detention before. Now he had to take into consideration the future of the world. How bad would the future be if Harry was never born? James had trouble imagining what the future was like with Harry let alone without him. All he really knew was that Harry played a vital part in the fight against You-Know-Who.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, slightly ashamed and embarrassed. "I didn't think… I didn't realise…" Harry just snorted.

"That much was obvious." Harry's response sparked a flame of anger inside of James.

"Hey that's not fair. I was just trying to protect you!"

"Yeah, well getting yourself killed is not, in any way, helpful." James sighed.

"You're right, it's not, but when I saw you in battle with the death eaters, something came over me. I don't know what, but I knew in that moment that I had to do anything I could to stop you from being in the line of fire. I guess it's the fatherly instinct inside of me." He could have sworn he saw a tear make its way down Harry's cheek, but Harry turned away from him too quickly to be sure.

"Harry?" James called out, after it had been silent for a few moments.

"We're a lot alike, you know?" Harry said, keeping his back to James.

"We are?" James said with a smile. He found himself wanting to know everything about Harry and his life in the future. He never really took the opportunity before, and somehow the event of the day seemed to bring him closer to Harry.

"Yeah, we're both thick-headed and we both put other people's safety before our own, we always have the strong urge to protect our family and friends and we both have to be the hero, and it's because of these qualities that we're both going to be killed."

"Harry, don't talk like that." James replied, the smile sliding off of his face.

"It's true, but it's ok. I figured out a while ago that, that's how I want to go. Protecting my friends and saving the wizarding world from Voldemort."

"Harry you sound as if you are going to try and fight You-Know-Who!" James said alarmed.

"'Neither can live while the other survives'," Harry spoke with a low tone, turning around to face his father.

"What?" James asked confused.

"It's a prophecy that hasn't been made yet. It's about me and Voldemort. It says that Voldemort chose me as his equal and that I have a power that he doesn't know or understand and that we are going to have to fight and in that fight one of us will die because 'neither can live while the other survives.'"

"Oh Merlin," James breathed.

"There's a lot more to the story than that but, I don't know how telling you all of this will affect the future." Harry came and sat down on the desk beside James. "I've probably already changed it," he added as an after thought.

"I'm sorry Harry."

"It's ok, I came to terms with it a while ago now."

"Still it's not something that any normal teenager should be dealing with."

"I have never been what you would call normal."

"Still-"

"It's alright. Really," he added, when he saw that James didn't look so convinced.

"Look, I have this power that Voldemort doesn't know or understand. I will just have to use that to defeat him."

"What is it?" James asked, curiously.

"I have no idea," Harry replied.

"Maybe that's why you were sent back in time, to find out?"

"Maybe," Harry agreed. That sat in silence for a few moments, before James broke the quiet.

"You can't have changed it too much,"

"What?" Harry asked.

"Time. You can't have changed it too much," James repeated himself.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well you're still here and you're still you aren't you?"

"I don't understand."

"Well by changing your past, you would change my future and in doing so it would change the person that is sitting beside me. Right?" Harry gave James a blank look. James chuckled at turned slightly on the desk to face Harry.

"Ok, say for example that I was killed today. If that had happened you would have disappeared, because then you wouldn't have been born, right?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Ok, then say you told me something you shouldn't have and it did end up changing the future. Like say you told me how to defeat You-Know-Who. If he was defeated, maybe you would never have come back here to 1977. Or maybe you tell me when, where and how Lily and I are killed and we stop that from happening. Then we would still be alive in your time. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Harry replied. "But say that is true. How would I know if I have changed the future? Any changes I've made would have already happened and I would no longer remember the 'old' me cause I would be the new me." James seemed stumped.

"You make a good point," James conceded. "Maybe I'll just have to promise to do everything exactly the way you said it needs to be done. Then we won't change anything."

"Yeah, maybe," Harry agreed.

"Come on," James said hopping down from the desk. "I can't think anymore. Let's go get something to eat or the food's going to be all gone by the time we get there."

* * *

The new found peace between James and Harry lifted a weight off of Harry that he hadn't even realised that he was carrying. As they continued to walk down the halls, talking about the upcoming quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, Harry tried to put out of his mind the imminent attack on Diagon Alley. He wasn't used to sitting back and letting everyone else do the fighting for him. He felt the most incredible urge to go and help fight. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, Voldemort tried to kill Harry on numerous occasions and Harry was the one who had to kill Voldemort. If it was anyone's war, it was Harry's. He wanted to fight, like he had told James, it was a part of who he was, but he knew he couldn't, it was too risky.

They entered the great hall and Harry felt that familiar sensation of everyone looking at him, and strangely enough it was almost enough to make him feel at home. The whispers started soon after and ignoring them, Harry and James made their way towards the Gryffindor table joining Ginny, Lily, Alice and the rest of the Marauders.

Harry sat down in between James and Ginny and began piling food on his plate.

"Have you two kissed and made up yet?" Sirius asked, receiving a punch on the arm from Remus. "Ouch!" Harry and James laughed.

"Yeah, we're fine." James said, taking a large helping of the mashed potatoes.

"Good, because Petey, Remy and I hate it when you two fight, we feel like you don't love us any more!" Sirius continued in a dramatic fashion.

"Shut up," James replied, flinging a spoonful of peas at Sirius, sending the group into fits of laughter.

Lily, who was seated next to Ginny leaned across her to talk to Harry.

"Hey Harry, I heard about what happened at Hogsmeade. Are you alright?" She asked, concern plainly written across her face.

"I'll be alright," Harry said quietly, touched that she was concerned about him.

"They say you killed a man," she continued quietly, and Harry's stomach clenched. He had been expecting it, of course. Hogwarts was notorious for the spread of gossip. The need to find out all of the juicy details seemed to be a requirement for attendance. Out of all of the people that he expected to bring up the topic, she was the absolute last.

"Lily, I don't think that this is appropriate dining conversation, do you?" James asked, overhearing their conversation.

"This, coming from you, the King of Inappropriateness," Lily bit back.

"This is different!" James hissed.

"How is this different? I am surprised that you haven't asked him for all of the gory details. Normally you would be the first one in on this conversation, or is that what you were doing when you were off alone with him, grilling him for all of the details."

"I don't need to ask him," James replied, a complex look of pain and sorrow on his face. "I was there." Lily looked a little taken aback by James' quiet tone.

"You want the details, here they are." He leaned across Harry and Ginny to fix Lily with a hard glare. "There was nothing romantic about it. It wasn't a dazzling display of wandwork and heroics. It was fast and messy and gruesome. The air smelled of blood, sweat and burning flesh. You could hear the screams of the people being tortured by those black-robed thugs, and the cries of those of who fell in the battle." By this time most of the Gryffindor table was listening in and even some of the students on the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables as well. "It was an awful display of the prejudice and greed of wizard kind. The deaths of those men, were nothing more than a by-product of Harry's attempt to save us and stop those death-eating scoundrels from killing everyone in that village." James paused and took a deep breath. "He did what was necessary, and I commend him on his valiant effort." He stood up and moved to stand behind Lily, his head over her shoulder right next to her ear. "Is that enough detail for you?" He turned and made his way out of the hall, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Lily began after several tense moments.

"It's ok," he replied, quietly. "I better go talk to him," he said standing up.

"No, I'll go," Lily said, standing up and following James out of the hall. Harry sat back down and Ginny put a comforting hand on Harry's knee.

"So Petey, how was your detention with Professor McGonagall?" Sirius asked, changing the subject.

* * *

"James!" Lily called out, following him out of the castle onto the grounds of Hogwarts. He ignored her, and continued towards the lake. He wasn't in the mood to listen to her excuses. "James!" she tried again. "I'm sorry!"

"For what?" he asked, stopping and turning around to look at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Why – are – you – sorry?" he repeated slower, as if she was a small child.

"For upsetting you, I didn't mean to."

"It's not me you need to apologise to," he said taking off towards the lake again.

"I've already apologised to Harry," Lily explained, chasing after him, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

"Well do it again!" Stopping, he turned to look at her again. "Don't you think that he has been through enough today without you going and asking him questions about it? The boy killed two people and he has to deal with the consequences. Everyone needs to leave him alone!"

"I don't understand how you can talk about it, like he got caught cheating in an exam. He killed two people! He took away people's lives. What about their families? Their friends?" James sighed.

"What about Harry? What about his family and friends?" Lily stared at him, confusion evident on her face. "It was a kill or be killed situation. I too, felt like you did. The shock of knowing that someone you know has killed is… strange." He took a step towards her. "But I know, now, that Harry didn't intend to kill those people, only to hurt them enough to weaken them. Their deaths were accidental, and I can guarantee you that he was just as affected by this as we were, probably more so." He saw a tear fall down Lily's face, and he pulled her in for a hug. "We're at war Lily, whether the ministry is ready to admit it or not. We are going to have to choose sides and we are going to have to fight, and people will end up getting hurt. That's just the way it is going to be."

"When did you become so mature?" Lily asked into his chest.

"I'm not. I'm still the immature kid that I've always been, and I probably always will be, but today I had a wake up call to the real world." James replied.

"Can I confess something to you?" she asked him, pulling away from the warmth and safety of James' arms.

"Sure," he replied.

"When I heard about what Harry had done, my first thought was that it should have been me."

"What?" James asked her startled.

"I thought that I should have been the one in Harry's place. It was as if I wanted to spare him the guilt and pain of having to deal with the consequences. Is that normal?" James chuckled, a deep throaty laugh, startling Lily.

"More normal than you realise," he replied, slinging an arm around her shoulders, as he led her to the lake.

* * *

Harry lay awake in bed that night, unable to sleep, afraid of what he may see, and by the uneven breathing of almost everyone else, he assumed that the others too were awake. The silence only broken by the occasional snore from Peter, whom Harry could hear clearly from the other side of the room, even with his bed curtains closed.

The rest of the night had been awkward. After Lily had left to chase after James, the others had engaged in strained conversation. Soon after, Harry and Ginny left the Great Hall, for the library citing homework, though neither could concentrate on any of the work in front of them. They finally gave up and decided to head back to the common room, arriving at the same time as James and Lily.

Lily once again apologized profusely, and Harry just shrugged it off, his insides jumping at the sight of his mother and father together in the same room and not fighting. Later on, a beaming James had confessed that he and Lily had taken a nice long walk around the lake, and though he hadn't even kissed her it was the best night of his entire life. Remus then quietly reminded him of the events that were to occur later in the evening, leaving James apologizing for his idiocy, but Harry shrugged him off, and gave him a sly grin. Even love had to occur during times of war.

Tired of laying there doing nothing, Harry got up and padded across the room and down the stairs to the common room. When he got there he was only mildly surprised to see Ginny curled up underneath a blanket, in her usual armchair near the fire.

"Hey," she said, standing up and indicating for Harry to sit down. When he had made himself comfortable, she sat down in his lap, throwing the blanket over top of them.

"How are you doing?" she asked, pressing her head into Harry's neck. He shrugged.

"Waiting is the worst part," he replied.

"What do you reckon Ron and Hermione doing right now?" she asked, trying to take his mind off of everything.

"Well considering that only an hour would have elapsed by the time we get back, it's only been about ten minutes since we left, so that would mean that they are probably fighting." Ginny laughed.

"They probably are," she replied. "Most likely over some comment Ron has made." Harry too, quietly chuckled.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs caught their attention and soon James, Sirius and Remus appeared.

"Hi," they said, coming to sit on the couch next to Harry and Ginny. Harry merely nodded in reply.

"How did you get out without waking Peter up?" Ginny asked.

"Petey?" Sirius asked, with a snort. "You couldn't wake him of you tried. James and I did try once. We kept making all of these loud noises, trying to get him to wake up. Nothing worked. Even Filibuster Fireworks!" After a quiet laugh at the imagery of Fireworks going off above a sleeping Peter's head, the group lapsed into silence.

After several minutes a loud noise broke the silence, followed by a horrible smell.

"Oh Sweet Merlin, SIRIUS!" Remus exclaimed, backing away from his shaggy haired friend.

"That is bad," James agreed, moving to the other armchair. Ginny pressed her nose into Harry's neck and Harry pressed his against Ginny's hair. Sirius just gave a half-hearted apology and grinned.

"I wonder what is happening," Sirius said.

"I don't know, but I hate waiting," James replied.

"Do you think someone will come and tell us?" Remus asked.

"I hope Fawkes will, but I don't know," Harry replied, subconsciously wrapping his arms around Ginny's waist, holding her to him.

More footsteps sounded on the stairs and Lily appeared at the bottom.

"What are you all doing up?" she asked, seating herself on the armrest of James' chair.

"We could ask you the same thing," Sirius replied.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied.

"Neither could we," Remus replied, cutting Sirius off before he could say whatever 'smart' reply that he had come up with.

"Why not?" Lily asked. The group traded uncomfortable looks. "What's going on?" she prodded.

"Nothing," Ginny spoke up. "It's just after everything that's happened. We are worried about the fate of the school."

"You mean, you think they might close it?" Lily asked.

"It's possible," Remus replied. "Parents are going to want to pull their kids out of school. If too many students are pulled out…" he trailed off.

"They'll close the school," Lily finished. "What would we do then?"

"What?" Sirius asked.

"How will we learn to fight?" she looked around at everyone.

"Fight?" James asked.

"Yes, fight. James they're killing people like me. Muggleborns. You told me that we are going to have to fight and that we are going to have to pick sides. I've been thinking about that ever since and you are right. We are going to have to fight and when that time comes I want to be prepared. If they close the school, that's not going to happen."

Harry knew she was right. He couldn't recall anyone saying that they closed the school down, but that didn't mean that it didn't happen. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, they hadn't even started on dark curses yet. A thought, suddenly popped into Harry's head, that he knew wasn't his own. An image of one of his DA meetings back in fifth year.

"No, Ginny," he said out loud.

"Come on Harry," she replied. "We both know that it is the only way. Seventh years haven't even started learning about dark curses and dark wizards, let alone the junior years."

"Ginny…" Harry said again weakly.

"It's the only way," she maintained.

"What's the only way?" James asked.

"The D.A.," Ginny replied.

"What's that?" Remus asked.

"A secret underground club, whose aim is to learn the things that we are going to need to know in order to fight."

"Who is going to teach us?" Lily asked, looking at Ginny, wide-eyed. Ginny shifted in Harry's lap and turned so that she was looking at him.

"Harry?" Sirius asked. Ginny nodded in reply.

"Defence is by far his best subject, I'm sure you've all seen that by know. Harry has the experience in dealing with the death eaters, and he's already done it before," she continued.

"Done what before?" Remus asked.

"Taught a group of students defence."

"Where?" Lily asked.

"At another school we attended. The teachers there were hopeless," Ginny quickly covered up.

"What does D.A. stand for?" James asked.

"Dumbledore's Army," Harry replied.

"So what do you all think?" Ginny asked, looking around at everyone. James was the first to speak up.

"I'm in," he said.

"Me too," said Sirius.

"Count me in," said Remus with a smile at Harry.

"I'm in too," Lily said, a grin on her face. Everyone glanced at Harry.

He hesitated. This wasn't going to be like it was before. This was completely different.

"Harry, please," Lily pleaded, and Harry found it difficult to refuse her.

"Ok, but not a lot of people," Harry said.

The group broke out into an excited babble of ideas and suggestions. Everything from the things they wanted to learn, to the places that they would train, to how many times a week that they would train. Harry and Ginny sat watching them converse. Harry knew that this decision was going to come back and haunt him, but it was almost worth it just to see the excitement on the faces of Remus, Sirius, James and Lily. It was a rare moment and he wanted to savour it.

It was during a discussion on the appropriate cover story, that they were interrupted by a burst of flames. Fawkes materialised on the table in front of Harry and Ginny. James, Sirius, Remus, Harry and Ginny stared at Fawkes waiting for the news. Lily just stared at the bird in fascination and curiousness.

"So?" Harry asked.

"_Even with three months warning, we would not have been prepared. We were out numbered and out smarted. Half of Diagon Alley burned to the ground, and those who we could not evacuate or those who refused to, perished. We lost 5 people, several more were severely injured and taken to St. Mungo's. Most of the rest suffered minor injuries. We captured eleven of them. The rest disappeared."_

"How did we manage to capture so many? Yet you could only capture 11."

"_I believe that Voldemort felt that he didn't need to send his best witches and wizards to Hogsmeade, because he believed that even his mediocre followers were still leagues ahead of the ability of students. He obviously wasn't expecting you. Tonight, he sent out his best. They were fast and efficient. They had obviously been planning this attack for months. Hogsmeade, however, was __disorganised__, almost like a practice for the one tonight." _

"How many innocent people died?" Harry asked. Fawkes gave him a sorrowful look.

"_Preliminary counts suggest that the death tally is around 103, another hundred or so in St Mungo's and it is expected to rise with the discovery of bodies in the rubble and deaths of those in critical condition in hospital." _Harry hung his head. _"Thank you Harry. If you hadn't of warned us, that tally could have been in the thousands." _Harry just nodded, solemnly and Fawkes disappeared in a burst of flames. Harry pushed Ginny out of his lap and stood up heading for the stairs.

"Harry! What happened?" James called out.

"11 are in ministry custody, the rest got away. Over a hundred people killed, a hundred more in the hospital. Excuse me, I'm going to bed," Harry said with a hollow voice, disappearing up the staircase.

* * *

Ginny felt her heart break at the dejected look on Harry's face. He was going to blame himself, she was sure of it. She glanced around at the looks on everyone's face. They all pretty much showed the same thing, shock and sorrow. Lily, however, looked from one person to the next, trying to work out what was going on.

"What's he talking about? What's going on? " Lily asked confusedly.

"You-Know-Who attacked Diagon Alley tonight," James said, staring at his hands.

"That's why we couldn't sleep. We were waiting for some news," Remus replied.

"Diagon Alley?" Lily repeated in shock, looking at James, who just gave her a slight nod.

"How did you know?"

"It's not for us to say," James said. "We should probably go to bed, we have to get up in a couple of hours."

Ginny looked at the clock and was startled to see that it was almost 4:30 in the morning. Slowly they all stood up, the boys following Harry up the stair case, with a mumbled good night to the girls. Ginny took a still shocked Lily by the arm and guided her towards the girls dormitories.

"I can't believe that they attacked Diagon Alley. Why did they attack so soon? I don't understand. How did everyone know?" Lily kept muttering to herself. Ginny tried to tune her out, as she led Harry's mother towards her room. She tried to pay no attention to her, as she began to theorise why they knew about the attack before it happened. However, she couldn't ignore it when Lily placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder, looked her in the eye and asked…

"Why can Harry talk to Phoenixes?"

* * *

A/N: Hey Everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I did want to have this up sooner, but I was having a few problems with the plot. It's a very rollercoaster type of chapter with lots of ups and downs, but I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you for the magnificent reviews, they make my day!!! - Liz 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

"James, you are too young to understand. These are dangerous times. You are safer at home."

It was the next morning and like many other parents, Mr and Mrs Potter had arrived at the front door of the school demanding to take their son home.

"You don't know that," James argued, staring defiantly back at his father.

"I can protect you at home, I can't if you are here."

"How can you protect me any better at home?"

Mr Potter ran his hand through his graying, black hair, unconsciously trying to smooth the mess. It was a nervous habit that his son and his grandson shared. James rarely argued with them. He had been their miracle, born when they thought it was no longer possible for them to have any children. They had given him everything that he had ever asked for, and they rarely said no; except for now.

"James. It is a dangerous world out there. We need to know that you are safe and we know that you are safe in Godric's Hollow," Mrs Potter interjected from her place on the dark red arm chair in the corner of Professor McGonagall's office.

"Dumbledore is here. There is no safer place in the world than with the greatest wizard of this age."

"You are right, Dumbledore is a brilliant wizard, but he has many other students to take care of. He may be able to protect you within the grounds of this castle, but the second you leave the grounds…"

"You think I don't know what happens the second that I leave the grounds?" James was furious, and drew himself up so hat he was only standing half an inch shorter than his father. "I was at Hogsmeade that day the Death Eaters attacked! I fought with them! I know what it is like to have people you care about in the line of fire. I have watched innocent people die, right before my eyes!"

"Precisely!" Mr Potter argued back. "You are too young. You should be out playing quidditch, getting into mischief, not fighting battles well beyond your skills!"

"If we don't do something, there might not be anymore quidditch, there might be no Hogwarts, there might not be a me anyway."

"James, please, see reason! You aren't a trained wizard, you could get yourself killed."

"But I am training. Or at least I will be. We're forming a club, with the help of someone who has experience fighting the Death Eaters and even Voldemort himself." Mrs Potter turned ashen, and Mr Potter looked ready to explode.

"And Dumbledore is letting you form this club?" Mr Potter asked, furiously.

"He doesn't know about it," James replied quietly.

"So you are forming an illegal club? A club that will probably practice dangerous magic, unsupervised. Dumbledore will hear about this."

"Fine!" James said defiantly. "Tell him, but I don't think that he will stop us," James paused, trying to steady his wildly beating heart. "I am a brilliant wizard Dad. I get "O"'s in all my school subjects. I am fast and clever with a wand, and I want to help defend our world from the narrow-minded git that is Voldemort."

"James!" Mrs Potter gasped, shocked.

"I'm sorry Mum, but I need to be here with my friends. I need to fight. It feels right."

"James, you are my son. I love you very much. I want you to have everything you ever wanted, but I can't do that if you are dead. I can't give you the life you deserve if you stay here. You must come home, that's it… end of story."

"You don't understand, you need to protect me, and that's fine. I love you for it. But there are people here that I need to protect, too."

"Your friends will be fine!" Mrs Potter tried to assure him, as she stood up and moved closer to her husband. "You need to come home. We are just trying to protect you, you're our son!" James hit boiling point and before he could think about it he replied.

"What about my son?!"

The room was silent. Mr and Mrs Potter stared at their son, their mouths gaping open. James felt the pit of his stomach fall away, and his heart jump into his throat. He hadn't meant to say it, it had just flown out of his mouth.

"Your son," Mrs Potter choked, her eyes filled with tears. Mr Potter seemed incapable of words.

"Yes… my son… Harry."

"James!" a voice called out by the door and he turned to see Ginny standing at the door. He could tell by the look on her face that she had heard if not everything at least the last part.

"Ginny," James began but was stopped by the look on Ginny's face.

"You promised that you wouldn't tell a soul. You know how important this secret is. You could have risked everything. You have exposed him. You could have changed time. You are an idiotic fool James Potter. You risked the life of your own son."

"To protect him, Ginny. I only want to protect him. I can't leave him here, by himself. If they took me away he would have no one."  
"He would have me!" she yelled furiously.

"I meant he wouldn't have any family."

"I have been a part of his family far longer than you have!" Ginny retorted. "You weren't there for him. He had no one for the first 11 years of his life. Now he has me. I'm his family."

"I would have been there if I could have Ginny and you full well know it. I love that kid more than I thought possible and I have only known him for a couple of months. I couldn't imagine how I would feel after a whole lifetime! You can't blame me for this. I haven't done anything wrong, except try to protect my family. You can't blame me for something I have no control over." The room was deadly silent.

Mr and Mrs Potter just stood there, looking from their son to the bright, red-headed witch who seemed to have an emotional connection to their alleged grandson. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. It seemed too outrageous. Too unbelievable.

"You love him?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I do," James answered.

"Me too," she whispered to herself, yet James heard it.

"I know you do."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Me too," James replied holding out his arms for Ginny. She stepped forward and they hugged.

The sound of a throat clearing broke them apart.

"Who is this young lady, and what does she have to do with our alleged grandson?" Mr Potter asked. James felt, rather than saw Ginny flare up beside him.

"Alleged!" she cried, but James placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her going forward.

"Easy Gin," he said calmly. "Mum, Dad this is Ginny, my future daughter-in-law." James yelped as a fist collided with his shoulder. He turned smirking towards Ginny.

"What? It's true!"

"I don't follow, how can this girl be your son's girlfriend. She's at least fourteen!"

"Sixteen," Ginny grumbled quietly.

"Your son would have to be a teenager." Mr Potter asked.

"He is." James said, looking awkwardly at Ginny. "They're from the future, they traveled back in time."

"They do that in the future? Time travel? I thought it was dangerous," Mrs Potter said taking a step towards Ginny.

"It is," Ginny replied. "We don't do it all the time. It's only used in certain circumstances."

"And what, young lady, were the circumstances this time?" Ginny paused, and James turned to look at her. He had never been told the reason why they were sent back in time, and it made him curious.

"We don't know. We were just told to."

"By who?"

"I'm not going to tell you that. It might change things," Ginny replied after another long pause. "But no one is supposed to know who we are. So we need to keep this quiet and between us." Mr and Mrs Potter looked at one another.

"I know that this is hard to believe. Trust me, James was reluctant to believe it too. But it's true. Harry is your grandson, and he is a brilliant wizard, a good person and a fantastic friend. Please, you can't say anything."

"Ok," Mrs Potter said with a look at her husband. "We promise."

"I want to meet him," Mr Potter said. James glanced nervously at Ginny.

"I don't think that now is the best time. Perhaps at Christmas?" Mr Potter seemed to consider it.

"I know what it is like to want to protect your son, you obviously care about him as much as I care about you. I am proud of how mature you are being about this. I was worried that you might never grow up; that you might not turn out to be the man that we had hoped; that, perhaps, we had spoiled you too much as a child. But I see now that you are more of a man than I ever hoped you could be. You may stay here with your son. But at Christmas, I want you, Sirius, Harry and Ginny at home." James nodded, knowing that it was the best compromise that he was going to get.

"Thank you."

Mr Potter stepped forward and hugged his son.

"I am only trying to protect my son," he said, as he held him closer.

"So am I," James replied, pulling away. Mrs Potter rushed forward and clung to James.

"Stay safe," she whispered.

"I will."

Mr Potter picked up Ginny's hand and lightly kissed the back of it.

"I am glad that my grandson has found someone like you."

"Thank you, sir," she replied, as Mrs Potter hugged Ginny goodbye.

James watched as his parents walked to the fireplace and flooed out of the office.

"What do we tell Harry?" he asked Ginny.

"Nothing. At least not yet. He is concentrating on the DA at the moment. He doesn't need to know about this until later.

"Ok." They started to walk out of the room. When James remembered what he had wanted to ask Ginny since she came into the room. "What was is that you came here for?" James asked as they left the office.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"You must have wanted me for something?"

"Oh, right, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you."

* * *

By lunch-time, half of the students had been pulled out of school; Voldemort's attack on Diagon Alley, the last straw for many parents. Peter's family had been one of the first to arrive to take their son home and, unlike James, he had been too weak to fight them. The mood of the castle that afternoon could be described as somber at best. Classes had been cancelled for the day, as those who had lost loved ones in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley grieved.

There was no denying it anymore, the wizarding world was at war. People were turning fearful of each other. Many scuffles had broken out in the corridors between students, most of these scuffles involving Slytherin. Dumbledore had enlisted James and Lily's help to patrol the corridors.

Normally thrilled to be in Lily's company, James dreaded spending the afternoon with her. Lily could be known as a bit of a blood hound. Once she was on the trail of something she was relentless in pursuing it. Ever since Harry had talked to Fawkes the night before, she hadn't stopped asking about Harry and his abilities. After a couple of hours of questions, and the occasional breaking up of a fight, James had had enough.

"Lily! Shut up!" he said rounding on her. "No one knows how or why he can do these things, including Harry himself. He just can. Now drop it!" Lily looked slightly taken aback, then guilty.

"I'm sorry, it just seems that ever since he and Ginny arrived here everything is different and I don't know what to make of it." James sighed.

"None of us do. We just have to keep going on. But trust me on this, Harry is one of the good guys." James held out his hand for Lily to take.

"I trust you," she said as she placed her hand in his.

* * *

Harry knew that Ginny was worried that about him, worried about the way that he would take the aftermath of the attacks, but he knew that he had surprised her when he arrived at breakfast with a look of steely determination, and a head full of ideas for the DA. He had pushed the events of the last night to the back of his mind. There was only one way to stop the attacks and that was to fight back.

Harry, Ginny, James, Lily, Sirius and Remus met that night to discuss the plans for the DA. Harry decided not to use the room of requirement again, as he couldn't see how he could justify coming across it. If the Marauders, who had been studying the castle for years, hadn't come across it, how could Harry, who had only been there a couple of months, have discovered it first? So that plan was out. As was the Chamber of Secrets, much for the same reason, not to mention the fact that the basilisk was still alive at this time. This thought made him shiver and he wondered if Ginny had even thought about it.

During the meeting, however, the marauders assured Harry that they had the perfect place, a disused classroom at the top of the South Tower. With the location sorted, they began to discuss the other necessary details from who was invited to join, to a basic class outline, to the types of things that they wanted to learn. It was during this meeting that Harry discovered that Remus's mind worked in a very similar manner to Hermione's, practical and logical, whilst Sirius's mind was a lot like Ron's very good at strategy, but sometimes completely clueless. He found himself longing for the company of his two best friends. He would normally be planning something like this with them. It had been hard being at Hogwarts without them. He was glad that he had Ginny, but she wasn't them. As if sensing his loss, Ginny patted his hand and immediately he began to feel better.

His mother reminded him of Ginny, intelligent and the cool head of reason with the ability to keep Sirius in line and to make sense out of Remus's plans. His father, on the other hand, he most likened to himself. Harry couldn't help but smile at this thought. It was very heart-warming, knowing where you came from.

By the time they had finished discussing everything, the common room had emptied, leaving them alone. Feeling satisfied with the work that they had done, they stood up and stretched.

"I'm beat. I have to go to bed." Lily said extracting herself from James's grasp, having spent the entire night with his arm around her.

"Me too," Ginny said, standing up from her place beside Harry.

"We've got a good plan now. So I think that we should start as soon as possible," Harry said.

"When? Next week?" Remus asked.

"I was thinking tomorrow," Harry replied.

"Tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow. The longer we leave it, the longer it takes," James replied, seeing Harry's logic.

"Ok, we start tomorrow," Lily said as she and Ginny made their way to the stairs. "Night everyone."

"Night!" The boys chorused back.

Waiting until the girls were out of sight, Sirius turned back and stared at James.

"What?" James asked after an uncomfortable few moments.

"What's going on with you and Evans?" Sirius asked with a goofy grin on his face, James rolled his eyes.

"Nothing," he said cleaning up the pieces of parchment on the table in front of him.

"Didn't look like nothing to me."

"We haven't talk about anything yet. We're just taking it slow." Harry couldn't help the grin that grew on his face.

"Atta boy James!" Sirius cheered. "It's about time!" Remus nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, well, we'll see. I don't want to do anything that might muck it up. So ease up on the jokes," James pointed an accusatory finger at Sirius.

"Moi? Joke?" Sirius teased, as they stood up and made their way towards the staircase.

Harry remained seated, frozen, unable to move from his spot on the floor.

"Harry?" James asked, turning around. He saw Harry's body go rigid and knew what was coming next before it had even happened. He reacted by casting a silencing charm over the room, not a second too soon as Harry let out an ear-piercing scream. His body went rigid and began to shake.

Within a minute, Ginny appeared at the door like she always seemed to do, when Harry had an episode. Another minute later, it was all over. Gasping Harry sat up, Ginny pushing his sweaty hair off of his forehead.

"What happened? What is he up to?" She asked.

"M-Malfoy… cruciatus…" He breathed heavily. "He's… a-angry. I've n-never known him to b-be this angry." Harry felt weak and weary, unable to keep his eyes open.

"Shh, Harry don't talk." Ginny stroked his hair and James came to kneel beside them.  
"Malfoy?"

"Voldemort's right hand man," Ginny replied.

"Lucius Malfoy? Works at the ministry?" Sirius asked. Ginny nodded. "That slimy bastard works with my father, and married my cousin last year."

"Why am I getting so many attacks? I've never had this many before." Harry moaned, his whole body felt like it was on fire, as his eyes slipped closed.

"I don't know," Ginny whispered, as she continued to stroke his hair. James too stroked Harry's head.

"Go to sleep Harry. You'll feel better in the morning." James said.

As Harry fell into a deep slumber, James turned to Ginny.

"They seem to be getting worse."

"I know. Can't understand why though?"

"Maybe You-Know-Who is becoming more powerful?" Remus suggested.

"It's possible," Ginny said. "I don't think he can take much more of this though. It's starting to wear him out."

"I'll levitate him upstairs. I don't want him to sleep down here." Ginny stood aside while James levitate his son's body and headed up stairs.

"Night, boys," Ginny said softly as she made her own way up the girls staircase.

"Why can't You-Know-Who, let us have a night of fun?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, but I feel horrible for Harry. He never seems to be able to catch a break. To live with those horrible nightmares, I couldn't imagine anything worse."

Sirius looked seriously at Remus.

"Yes, you could." Remus dropped his eyes away from Sirius.

"I've gotten used to that now."

"Remus, it's not something that you can just get used to. I know you have nightmares from it; I sleep in the bed next to yours. You can't fool me Moony." Remus just nodded, unable to disagree with him. "Next one is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"Night after next."

"Good, Padfoot is itching to come out and play," Sirius said, scratching his stomach in a manner that reminded Remus of a dog.

"Are you sure it's Padfoot? Or is Sirius itching to go out and play?" he laughed. Sirius shot him a wicked grin.

"Maybe it's a little of both."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. You guys are so patient. It took me forever to work out how I was going to do this chapter. I hope it's ok. Thank you for sticking with me. – Lizzie.


	18. Chapter 18

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Expelliarmus!" fifteen different voices called out and Harry quickly stepped aside as an errant spell came his way.  
"Almost Tabitha, maybe try aiming slightly left of the target," Harry suggested coming to stand beside the sixth year Ravenclaw.

"I'm sorry Harry, my spells always go slightly haywire," she explained.  
"Well you've got the spell down fine. Maybe we should just practice on your aiming next week?" he suggested and she nodded in agreement.

It was the end of November and the holidays were fast approaching. The DA was going strong with around 25 members from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Just like last time, the members were always excited to meet and many had requested that they push their current schedule of two classes a week up to five. However, Harry, James and Sirius, all of whom were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team shut the idea down very quickly. Harry had suspicions that Dumbledore was aware of something going on, even though he seemed to be out of the castle for great lengths of time. Harry had a sneaky suspicion that he had a tail in the form of an immortal, red bird.

Harry had had a number of nightmares, but none of them involved the link between Voldemort's mind and his own, which Harry was eternally grateful for. However, the lack of action and news had made him on edge. Every time he read the Daily Prophet, he saw the acts of a revengeful Voldemort in almost every article he read. Ginny eventually got so sick of his wild theories, that she took the paper off of him, rolled it up and proceeded to hit him over the head with it multiple times. After that, Harry learnt to keep his crazy theories to himself.

Harry and Lily had grown closer, as they both worked together on the DA lesson plans. Harry had a feeling that she had knew a lot more of what was going on than even he had given her credit for. He had the sneaking suspicion that she had worked out that he wasn't from this time period and that he was in fact James' relative, though he was unsure if she had realised the connection between the two. James and Lily had also grown closer over the last month or so. While they were not officially dating, they had been spending a lot of time together. Remus and Sirius had a bet going. Sirius bet that James would do something to screw it up before they officially got together and that they won't be a couple until after the New Year. Remus disagreed; he had bet that they would be together before they left for the holidays.

Things between Lily and Snape, on the other hand, had gone drastically down hill when he accused her of spending too much time with the blood-traitor Potter. Lily reminded him that she was a his friend and a muggle-born, and therefore technically making him a blood-traitor too. Not only that, but the fact that he was a half-blood himself only made him look stupid going around supporting You-know-who's beliefs. On hearing these spoken truths, Snape had snapped. He called her an ungrateful mud-blood, who he had never considered a friend. Lily had returned to the common room upset and when James found out what had happened, he stormed off to find Snape. Harry, along with Sirius and Remus had followed behind him in order to stop him doing something completely stupid. What Harry saw, was a very familiar scene. Snape was hanging upside down, his robes down around his head, exposing his underwear to a cheering crowd. After that Harry had confronted his father, telling him that it was his torturing of Snape that made life miserable for Harry during his schooling years and that if he ever wanted to have Lily as a girlfriend he had to grow up. The pair didn't speak for a week, but finally made up when Lily literally banged their heads together and told them to get over whatever stupid argument they were having. Neither Potter could say no to Lily.

"Ok guys, that's all we have time for this week. If you could please practise everything we've learnt this week, that would be great because I will expect you to be able to be able to perform it first time next week. Thank you," Harry dismissed them.

"Thanks Harry," Annabelle, a fifth year Hufflepuff, said as Harry started packing up the large cushions and target dummies that they had been practicing with. She was closely followed by Alice and Frank Longbottom, Gilbert Godshaw, Rochelle Fletcher and Emmett Pickens.

"Well Harry, it seems that everyone likes your lessons. You're very good by the way," Remus said coming up to him. "Do you want to be a teacher when you graduate?"

"You really should give a thought about teaching Harry," Lily said coming to stand by him. "You really have a talent for it. We've had some awful teachers in the past, you've easily been one of the best."  
"Thanks, but I haven't really thought about it to be honest," Harry replied with a hollow chuckle, tossing a couple of cushions into a large box.  
"Really? But it's your final year. You must have some idea of what you want to do," James asked as he fixed a broken cabinet with the flick of his wand.  
"I've kind of had other things on my mind recently," Harry said pointedly.  
"Leave him alone Prongs, not everyone had their career chosen by the time they were fourteen," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I still have no idea what I want to do either."

"Do you have any idea what you want to be, Ginny?" Lily asked.  
"A healer," Ginny replied quickly. Harry looked at her. He hadn't known that.  
"A healer? Wow! Why?" Lily asked.  
"So I can help Harry." Harry looked at her. Did she really want to be a healer because of him? He knew he was always getting into scrapes but surely she didn't think he needed his own personal healer.  
"Really?" he asked her in all seriousness.  
"Yes," she replied. "Healing fascinates me. I watched the healers working on Dad last year and I remember thinking it was something which I would be interested in doing. Besides, you spend half your time in the hospital wing, so it would not doubt be useful." Harry rolled his eyes at her and she giggled.

"I think you would make a brilliant healer," Harry said and a blush rose in Ginny's cheeks.

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked his father, trying to deflect the attention away from the blushing Ginny.

"I want to be an auror," he said a smile crossing his face.

"What? Since when?" Sirius asked. "You've always wanted to be the star chaser for Puddlemere United." James flushed crimson, and Harry looked at his father in confusion.

"Things change," James replied, throwing a cushion at Sirius' head.

"But James, it's been your dream job forever, you haven't stopped talking about it since you made the house team," Lily replied, astonished that he was even considering anything other than quidditch. James sighed.

"Times are different now. I am different now. My priorities have changed. I want to do something to help stop this ridiculous war. Even..." he paused and looked at Harry. "Even if it means I die." Harry felt his stomach clench. He knew that it was inevitable, especially if things were to remain the way they were, but still it hurt to hear.

"Die?" Remus asked, his gaze worrying. Harry understood Remus' worry. Unlike the marauders and Lily, Harry had never really considered a life that didn't have the risk of death. He had been chosen to destroy the most evil wizard of all time, marked by Voldemort himself. Ever since his first year he has faced death so many times that it was hard to think of life any other way. Being a auror, was the natural choice for him. James on the other hand, had never faced death in his life. He probably wouldn't have even considered it if Harry hadn't have come along. So it was no wonder that the others were shocked to hear his declaration.

"I'm not going to go all suicidal on you Moony, don't panic," James said with an awkward chuckle.

"Why now?" Sirius asked. "Trained aurors are dying every day. Diagon Alley alone..."

"I remember what happened in Diagon Alley, Sirius and I think that it is a classic example of why I should become one. I may not like some of the Ministry's ideas or decisions, but they are ultimately on the side of good. They are losing their army, so they are going to need more people. I have a brilliant mind and I am a great wizard. Why should I waste these skills playing Quidditch when I could be out there saving lives," James replied, throwing the last cushion into the box.

"Forgive us, James," Remus said. "It's just seems to have come out of nowhere."

"Yeah," James sighed. "I know. It's just the other week at Hogsmede... it opened my eyes."

"You have changed," Lily whispered so quietly, that Harry could barely hear her standing as close to her as he was, but still James had heard her from across the room.

"I'm not the selfish brat I was in first year, Lils. I've grown up. You've just been too stubborn to notice." He said with a small smile as he moved slowly towards her. "I've said this before. This war that we have been hearing about for the last few years, is no longer just news stories and gossip pages, it's the real deal. It's being played out right here in our backyard, it's a part of us now. Who am I to sit back and do nothing while Hogwarts is destroyed? How can I fly around on a silly broomstick while my family and friends are dying? How can I, in all good conscious, ignore them while they seek out and kill muggle-born wizards and witches?" he paused and looked into her eyes. "While they kill you," he added softly. "I can't. I have to think about more than just myself. I have to help them fight and I have to help them win." James was standing in front of Lily and Harry and Ginny discreetly moved away.

"This is really happening, isn't it? Everything's changing." James gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Yes," he said.

"I don't want you to die," Lily whispered. James seemingly unable to come up with a response, cupped her face in his hands, brushed a stray tear away, and leaned in, capturing her lips in a long, soft kiss.

Harry couldn't describe his feelings at seeing the scene before him. It was both elating and horrifying at the same time, but he couldn't look away. He felt Ginny take his hand and he laced their fingers together. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Remus and Sirius making their way out of the room, and Ginny gestured for Harry to do the same.

Once outside, Harry saw Sirius slap a galleon into Remus' outstretched hand.

"Maybe I should become an auror too," Sirius said as they walked down the corridor.

"You can't play practical jokes as an auror," Remus replied with a laugh. Sirius rolled his eyes.  
"I know that Moony. But James made some good points in there. Not to mention it would disgrace the name of Black, so that's got to be a plus."

"Sirius, you shouldn't antagonise your family. You know how powerful they are."

"Pish, posh. They've disowned me. They can no longer control of my life." Remus pulled Sirius to a standstill, causing Harry and Ginny to run into them, and looked him in the eye.

"Just don't do anything rash," Remus said. "Think it over." Sirius smiled at him.

"Alright Moony, but only because you asked me."

"Your parents disowned you?" Ginny asked when they started moving again. "That's terrible." Sirius snorted.

"Hardly, I'm glad to be rid of them. Pure-blood lovers the lot of them. Well except for a few of us. My Uncle Alphard and my cousin, Andromeda, are my favourite family members. You should see Dromeda's kid, she's so cute, she's a metamorphmagus so every time I see her she looks different, last time I saw her she had bright pink hair." Sirius laughed. "Anyway, I live with James and his parents now." Harry chuckled, picturing a baby Tonks with pink hair.

* * *

When Lily and James returned to the common room that evening, word had spread about their 'togetherness'. Mostly it was thanks to Sirius and his inability to keep his mouth closed. As a result when they walked through the portrait hole, hand in hand, the cheers could have lifted the roof off of the Astronomy tower. Gryffindor went into full party mode, as there seemed like no better excuse for a party than James Potter, finally, finally getting his girl.

Sirius even disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with bags of sweets from Honeydukes and a full case of Butterbeer. The celebrations were only stopped when a harassed looking Professor McGonagall climbed through the portrait hole, and said that although she too was very pleased that James and Lily had finally managed to get their act together, it was one o'clock in the morning and everyone had classes in a few hours. Groaning, they all made their way up the staircase to their dormitories.

"We better write Peter and tell him that the James and Lily finally got together," Remus said as he climbed into his bed.

"Don't know if Pete will be too happy to hear it. He's been in love with James since first year," Sirius snorted.

"He is not," James retorted, throwing a shoe at Sirius.

Harry lay quietly in his bed, not daring to say anything. Peter may be in love with James, but soon he will be working for a new master. Harry had breathed easier since the rat had been made to go home, but James had received a letter earlier that day from Peter saying that he thinks he's convinced his parents to allow him to return after the New Year. This knowledge made Harry feel deeply uneasy. When they had shared the news with Ginny, she too felt the same way Harry did. Despite this, both had managed to plaster fakes smiles on their faces and pretended as if it was the best news they had ever heard.

Since the arrival of the letter, however, Harry could feel the change in the air. Something was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.

* * *

A/N: Ok, so for those of you who are still reading this story - I am so sorry. I'm not even going to try and come up with excuses. I know this chapter is short, but I have already started on the next chapter so hopefully it won't be anywhere near as long. - Lizzie xo

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	19. Chapter 19

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

The following evening was another full moon and Remus had left the school just before lunch. Sirius and James had been restless all day, it was a full moon and Padfoot and Prongs was dying for a run. Breakfast had seen them charm the pieces of toast on the house tables to dance anytime someone tried to take a bite. Another prank turned sour in potions, when a few of the cauldrons exploded emitting an orange gas into the air that had sent the entire class into fits of giggles. James had managed to escape punishment, but Sirius had been asked to remain behind to clean up the mess in the potions classroom.

During lunch James seemed incapable of sitting still. After several long minutes of James bouncing his leg up and down, Ginny finally had enough. Picking up her charms text, she swatted the back of his head.

"Stop it!"

"Ow!" James rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry."

"What is with the bouncing?"

"Nothing," James said.

"Then stop the bouncing or I will hex you before you could say 'dragon scales'!"

"I would stop if I were you. Her brothers and I learnt long ago not to get on Ginny's bad side," Harry chuckled.

"Sorry," he repeated. "I am just excited."

"About what?" Harry asked, stuffing his face with a fork full of steak and kidney pie.

"About..." he paused. Did Harry know about Remus? He had never asked. Would Harry still like Remus if he did know? James didn't think he was the type to be prejudice, but still even the most broad minded wizards and witches still flinched when talking about werewolves. In any case, he wasn't about to blab about Remus's furry little problem in the middle of the great hall where anybody could overhear. "Christmas!" he blurted the first thing that came to his mind.

"Christmas?" Harry asked.

"Yes, you know the holiday that is held at the end of every December?" Sirius explained sarcastically to Harry.

"I know what Christmas is," Harry muttered.

"Yeah, well, my parents have invited you and Ginny home for the Christmas holidays."

"How do they know about me and Ginny?" Harry asked, frowning in James' direction.

"I might have mentioned you guys in a letter or something. Don't look at me like that, they just want to meet my new friends." Harry narrowed his eyes at James.

"Come on, Harry. Spend Christmas with my folks, please?" Harry looked at Ginny.

"I think we should go," Ginny said. "We need the break." Harry sighed.

"Alright." James smiled triumphantly and shot Ginny a grateful look. She really was the best future daughter-in-law that a guy could ask for.

* * *

James' first class after lunch was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was the easiest of all of his subjects. In James' opinion, this was largely thanks to Professor Dearborn, whom he considered to be one of the better teachers that Hogwarts had seen. Today they were moving on from dark creatures to dark curses and this lesson they were starting off with the most dangerous of them all.

They had arrived at class early and James took a seat next to Harry at the back of the class. James' curiosity peaked when he saw Dearborn bring in a small glass tank, containing three spiders. Beside him, Harry tensed and a fearful look crossed his face.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I just have a bad feeling," he replied, pulling his hair down over his scar.

"Good afternoon class," Professor Dearborn said, placing the glass tank down on his desk. "As I mentioned last lesson, today we are moving on to dark curses." The class, including James, began to murmur in excitement, but Harry sank lower in his chair. "I was going to wait until the new year to introduce these particular curses, but in light of recent events I felt it best that we rearrange the program." James watched the class straighten in their seats. "Who can name for me any one of the three unforgivable curses?" James looked around the room, but no one raised their hands. "Anyone?"

Most of the class had turned to look at Harry, even James couldn't stop himself from glancing in his direction. It was no secret that he was extremely knowledgeable about the dark arts, Professor Dearborn had taken to calling on him every time no one knew the answer. This was not unlike those times.

"Mr James?"

"The Imperious Curse," he replied.

"Excellent, and what does that particular curse do?"

"It places the subject of the curse under the cursers control."

"Precisely," Professor Dearborn replied, taking one of the spiders out of the tank. "Imperio!" he cried pointing his wand at one of the spiders. James saw Harry turned away at the sight of the dancing spider. The class giggled to the antics that Dearborn was putting the spider through, but James had no such urge. It was obvious from the look on Harry's face that there was nothing funny to be had from today's lesson. Thinking about it, even he couldn't see the funny side. This curse was designed to make the subject bend to the controller's will. James could think of nothing worse than being controlled. "Laugh all you like," Professor Dearborn called out over the ruckus. "But remember the spider is at my control. Imagine if the spider was a human. I could make him do whatever I wanted. Bake me a cake, do my paperwork," he paused and looked around the classroom. "I could make him infiltrate the Ministry of Magic or even kill his own mother." The rest of the class grew silent as they all realised the implications of the curse.

Professor Dearborn put the spider back in the tank and pulled out another one.

"Another one," he said, looking at Harry.

"The Cruciatus curse," James called out, ignoring the grateful look Harry shot him. Professor Dearborn looked at James in surprise.

"Quite correct, Mr Potter. This is one of the nastiest curses and a favourite of You-Know-Who. It causes the subject unbearable pain." Pointing his wand at the second spider, he muttered "Crucio." James saw Lily gasp and clasp her hand over her mouth. Alice, who was sitting beside her, looked positively ill. Professor Dearborn let up after several moments and placed the spider back in the tank.

"What about the last one?" he asked, picking up the final spider.

"The Killing Curse," a small voice called out. James and Professor Dearborn were both surprised to see that it was Lily who answered.

"Correct," Professor Dearborn said. "The most lethal of curses. Not one person has survived it." He pointed his wand at the last spider. James saw Harry turn away, and close his eyes, unable to look. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  
"Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light and the spider lay dead in his hand. "Another favourite of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As you can see, it leaves behind no gruesome damage. It's clean, quick and effective. However the use of this curse, or any one of the other two, on a person carries a life-time sentence in Azkaban."

Harry's shoulder tensed underneath his hand and a gasp escaped his lips. He stopped listening to the professor and turned his attention to the rigid Harry in the seat beside him. Harry gasped again, drawing the attention of the class and one of his hands clutched at his head and the other reached out for James, grabbing a hold of his sleeve. James reacted instantly, trying to pull Harry out of his seat and down the aisle. He only managed to get him to the floor when his limbs froze altogether.

"Sirius!" he growled and within a moment, his friend was there.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"What's going on?" Professor Dearborn asked, coming to stand beside the trio. James and Sirius ignored him.

"We need to get him out of here," James said, glancing around at the crowd that had formed a circle around Harry. "Quickly! Before..."

It was too late. Harry's muscles seized and he began convulsing and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Silcenio," James muttered and the screams stopped.

"He looks like he is under the cruciatus," Professor Dearborn exclaimed.

"He is," James muttered, holding Harry's head to prevent it banging on the floor.

"That's impossible, no one here could have done it."

"No one here did, Professor," James said, his eyes focused on Harry's pale form. Lily, who had no idea what was going on, was kneeling by Harry's side, wiping the sweat off of his brow with her handkerchief, and whispering words of encouragement in his ear. James had never loved her more than he did in that minute. It was several long moments before Harry's body relaxed, but unusually, he didn't wake. James felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"Harry?" James asked, shaking him. "Harry?"

Harry remained silent and still on the floor.

"What's happening?" Lily asked, looking at James.

"I don't know. He's never not woken up before." Lily brushed Harry's damp hair off of his forehead and gasped when her hand touched Harry's scar. Pulling her hand back, she saw the start of a blister forming. James cursed.

"Lil, go get Ginny. We're taking him to the hospital wing." James' voice was so full of authority that Lily didn't question it. She pushed her way through the crowd and disappeared out the classroom door. Professor Dearborn conjured a stretcher and James and Sirius lifted him onto it.

"Professor," James began, but Professor Dearborn held up his hand.

"Go," he said gesturing for them to go. The pair picked up the stretcher and carried the unconscious Harry through the crowd.

* * *

Ginny was pacing the hospital wing when they arrived and Dumbledore, who had been waiting quietly in a chair in the corner stood up to greet them.

"What happened? Why isn't he awake yet? Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Ginny was in hysterics pulling on Harry's arm so fiercely that James was surprised she hadn't managed to pull it off.

"He had an episode Gin, in the middle of Defense. Ironically, just after we had learnt about the unforgivables. It was by far, the worst attack I've seen. He hasn't woken since it happened," James told her. A sob escaped Ginny's throat. James put an arm around her and pulled her away from Harry so that the harassed looking nurse could look Harry over.

"He'll be alright Gin, it's Harry, he's strong."

"It's never been this bad, nor this often. It's getting worse. He's getting stronger. He must have realised. He must know about the connection."

"What are you talking about Gin?" James asked.

"I believe Miss Granger is talking about the connection between young Harry here and Voldemort," Dumbledore said when the nurse had left to fetch something from her medicinal stores. James heard Lily gasp behind him, but he ignored her.

"Is there any way to close the connection?" James asked.

"Harry should be able to, he is an occlumens," Dumbledore said, gazing affectionately at the boy.

"No, he's not," Ginny whispered. Dumbledore looked at her in confusion.

"But he sensed my intrusion when you first arrived." Ginny nodded in confirmation.

"He did. He's been trained, but he was never proficient. He and his teacher weren't well suited to each other and the lessons finished before he could put his shields up effectively.

"Then I have no other choice, than to teach him myself. If Voldemort has indeed become aware of the connection, it is potentially dangerous to us all. I will start the lessons right away," Dumbledore made long strides towards the door. "Miss Granger, please have Harry report to my office tomorrow. Assuming he is feeling well enough, of course." With one last glance at Harry, the ancient wizard left the hospital wing.

A moment later the matron, reentered the room a large green bottle in her hands.

"Out! Out! All of you! The patient needs rest, and you have classes to attend!" James tried to steer Ginny out of the room, but she wasn't budging from Harry's side. James glanced at the matron, who looked at Ginny with sympathetic eyes, and nodded at James. He detached his arm from her shoulders and followed Sirius and Lily out of the room.

* * *

It was a couple of hours before Harry woke up, feeling disorientated.  
"Harry!" a sea of red, swam into vision and after several blinks, the blurry shape transformed into a worried looking Ginny.

"Gin," he breathed, feeling utterly drained. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Harry looked at her in puzzlement.

"Remember what?"

"You collapsed in the middle of your Defence class. James and Sirius had to carry you here on a stretcher. " Harry groaned in embarrassment. "You don't remember anything?" He shook his head.

"Well that is unfortunate news indeed," another voice spoke up, and Harry saw the Headmaster perched on the corner of his hospital bed.

"How bad?" he asked.

"Apparently it was the worse one James has seen yet and frankly me too. You've been unconscious for over two hours."

"He must be getting stronger," Harry replied, unable to come up with any other explanation.

"It would appear that way Harry. Miss Granger informed me this afternoon that your education in Occlumency was incomplete and, I believe, in light of recent events that perhaps it is prudent that I complete that education. It will not do to have you collapsing in class again. If I had known earlier that you weren't trained properly, I could have probably prevented this incident."

"I am sorry sir. I did not even think to ask. I feel ridiculous now."

"That's alright, my dear boy. Even the geniuses make mistakes. Now I must leave you. Please let me know if you remember anything from the vision."

"I will," Harry promised. Dumbledore nodded.

"I will ask you to remain here and rest for the rest of the afternoon. If you are feeling strong enough, you may go to dinner. Miss Granger may stay with you, if you please."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied. "Thank you, sir." Dumbledore smiled and they left the hospital wing, his long purple robes, billowing out behind him.

Later on that evening, Harry still felt like he had been run over by a herd of giants, but he refused to spend the night in the hospital wing. So, after he had been released, Harry and Ginny made their way down to the dining hall for dinner, chatting about the upcoming holidays. They were walking along the empty second floor corridor when they heard raised voices coming from around the corner.

"Speaking of tragic little friends, Black, where does Lupin go every month? Surely his mother would have died by now had she been really sick." Harry immediately recognised Snape's slimy voice.

"Don't you speak about Remus or his mother like that, Snivellus." This voice belonged to Sirius.

"Protecting your girlfriend are you Black? Well I have a theory about the real reason your pal disappears every month, and if word were to get out about his condition, life could be very difficult for him at Hogwarts."

"Have a theory, do you Snivellus? Can't wait to hear it, it should be rather entertaining."

"I do and if my theory were to spread, life could become very difficult for your girlfriend. You know how people like to talk," Snape snarled.

"Don't you dare hurt him Snivellus. He is a good man!" Snape scoffed. "You really want to know where Remus goes?" Sirius spat, as angry as Harry had ever heard him. "Come down to the Whomping Willow, there is a knot at the bottom of the tree, it stops the branches and allows you to enter a tunnel. Walk to the end of the tunnel and then you will know."

Ginny gasped, and Harry clapped his hand over her mouth, pulling her back into the shadows. Not a moment later, a smiling Snape came around the corner, oblivious to Harry and Ginny in the shadows. Harry shivered, a smiling Snape was never a good thing. Ginny pulled Harry's hand away from her mouth.

"What do we do now?" she whispered.

"We have to warn James. He was the one who stopped Snape in our timeline." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the Great Hall. "But we'll do it after dinner. I don't want James to kill Sirius in the middle of the Great Hall."

* * *

Harry ignored the stares and whispers that started up when he walked into the Great Hall, truth be told, he hardly noticed anymore. Ginny squeezed his hand tighter, and he smiled at her in gratitude. Looking around he spotted James, Lily and Sirius as they sat about halfway down the Gryffindor table. James and Lily were chatting amiably as they feasted on the roast chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots; however both were glancing at an unusually quiet Sirius. Harry slid into the seat beside Sirius and Ginny took the empty seat on his other side.

"Harry! You are looking a thousand percent better than you did earlier this afternoon," Lily said, smiling at him.

"Thanks," Harry replied. "Sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to."

"Nonsense," she brushed it off. "As long as you are alright, that's all I care about. If you ever want to talk, I am always here for you Harry."

"Thanks, Lily."

"Don't worry, Lils. He's tough, our Harry." James said with a wink at Harry, who smiled at the double meaning in his father's words.

"Do you remember anything?" Sirius asked, and James and Lily looked surprised that he had even spoken.

"No, not really. Last thing I remember was lunch."

"It was bloody frightening, for a moment I thought you were dead," Sirius said, his mouth filled with partially chewed peas.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed looking at him in disgust.

"What did we learn about in Defence?" he asked.

"The Unforgivables," Lily replied. Ginny squeezed Harry's hand under the table. "I must say the Cruciatus curse looks dreadful and I hope I never have to experience it." Harry looked at her and whispered,

"Me too." He felt James' eyes on him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at him. Harry put his fork back down on his plate.

"I'm gonna go. I'm not very hungry." He stood up and walked out of the hall, and the whispers grew louder.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, grabbing her bag. "The unforgivables are a sensitive topic for him... you know, after his parents."

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Lily gasped. "I didn't think."

"Don't worry about it," Ginny replied with a smile and took off after Harry. A moment later, she heard hurried footsteps behind her.

"Gin?" James called out and she looked over her shoulder at him. "I want to come with you." Ginny sighed.

"It's probably for the best, we need to tell you something anyway."

"You guys announcing your engagement?" James asked, his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. Ginny just rolled her eyes.

"Slightly more serious than that," she said, hurrying down the corridor to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

The common room was practically empty at this time of the night, as everyone was still down at dinner. Ginny and James raced up the staircase that led to the boys dormitory. Harry was sitting by the window staring out at the grounds below.

"Hiya Harry," Ginny said sitting on the stone ledge in front of him.

"Heya Gin," he replied, his smile not quite reaching his ears.

"We have to tell James what we saw," she said, grabbing his hand.

"What did you see," James asked, bringing one of the chairs closer to the window so he could sit.

"We know about Remus," Harry said bluntly. James started in his seat, positive he knew where this was going.

"Know what about Remus?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"We know about his furry little problem," Harry explained.

"You do?" James asked, looking between them.

"Yes, and before you get your knickers in a twist, we don't care," Ginny said, calming James' fears. He knew that Remus was not good at dealing with rejection, despite the façade he put up and James couldn't live if he knew his son was adverse to his best friend's condition.

"Good, because the last thing that Remus needs in his life is more rejection," he stated firmly and Harry held up his hands in surrender.

"He is one of my favourite people in the world. You won't find any hatred here." James smiled at him.

"Excellent, so what does Remus' problem have to do with anything?" James asked curiously.

"Everything," Ginny replied. "We were on our way to the great hall when we overheard a conversation between two people talking about Remus." James felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. There is no way on earth that this conversation was going to go well.

"One may have suggested to the other that he knew where Remus went every month, insulting him and his mother in the process," Harry explained. James forced himself to breath, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands.

"The other one defended Remus, but rose to the other man's bait and told him exactly where to find Remus tonight," Ginny finished. James was furious. He knew that Harry and Ginny had purposely left out the names, trying to delay his anger, but he knew exactly who the two parties were. Snape had been baiting them for months and it was only a matter of time before someone cracked. If he was honest with himself, he had thought Peter would have cracked first, not Sirius, never Sirius.

"I will kill him," James shouted, his limbs shaking with fury. "No wonder the little git couldn't look me in the eye! Of all the idiotic, moronic, selfish, stupid and idiotic things he could have done! I will kill him!"

Sirius picked the exactly wrong moment to return from dinner, and James had him pushed up against the wall in a matter of seconds.

"Are you insane? Are you really that stupid? He could be killed and it would all be Remus' fault!" Sirius looked at James wide eyed. "Did you even think about that? What if he killed Snivellus, huh? What then! You know the one thing he fears most is hurting someone! You KNOW that! So why give him a potential target? Did you even think about Remus in that moment, or was it entirely about getting back at Severus? Do you even care what predicament you've put your best friend into? Imagine if he killed him, Sirius? Do you think Remus would be able to live with himself?" he yelled into Sirius' face. "Do you?" he shook Sirius by the shoulders.

"No," Sirius squeaked.

"Of course you don't you moron. You need to grow up. If you want to prank Snape, I've got no problem with it. I'll even help you. But we don't EVER purposely endanger his life, got it? Especially when it means putting one of us in danger as well." Sirius nodded, looking ashamed at himself. James sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I'm going to clean your mess up. You are going to stay here and think about what you have done. "

"You might need some help, you know how Remus can get," Sirius whispered.

"You are not going anywhere near him tonight," James seethed. "I'll go by myself."

"No," Harry said, speaking up for the first time since Sirius arrived. Sirius actually looked surprised to see him there.

"Yes," James responded, still staring at Sirius like he was dragon dung.

"No," Harry repeated. "I'll go with you." This caused James to swing around and stare at him.

"Harry!" Ginny said, clutching his arm. "No!"

"It's ok Gin," Harry said a smile on his face. "I took animagus lessons over the summer. I've been practicing a lot, especially every time you guys go out to run with Remus and I think I've got it down now!" James looked at Harry, a mixture of fear and pride surging within him and his anger lessened.

"Why you little blast-ended skrewt! You never told me that!" Ginny said punching him in the arm.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. She made me promise that I wouldn't or she wouldn't teach me," Harry said. Ginny sat back and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You still should have told me," she huffed. James decided to save Harry from backing himself into a corner.

"I'm not taking you out there without seeing it for myself," James warned him. Harry nodded and moved away from the others in the room. Standing in front of Remus' bed, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

James could hardly look for fear of Harry's disappointment if it didn't work. He waited with baited breath as the seconds ticked by. He was about to open his mouth to tell Harry better luck next time, when it happened. Slowly but surely the features that made Harry a human disappeared and in his place sat a glorious lion. James let out his breath that he hadn't even realised that he was holding and felt the pride swell inside him. He had an animagus for a son, and in those few minutes his mood had completely turned around. While he was still furious at Sirius, he was thrilled to have yet another thing in common with Harry.

"Well, I guess that's good enough," he said trying his best to remain serious. However, the look of indignation on the lion's face was enough to tip him over the edge. James started to giggle, then laugh and before his knew it he was kneeling on the floor clutching his sides with laughter.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked this one. Thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews. I know I am slower than most at updating, but I also hate uploading mediocre material, so I hope you all forgive me.

Happy Reading! - Liz


	20. Chapter 20

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

"Gentlemen, and Ladies, I thank you for your show of support here tonight. None of you know why you were brought here today and I respect you for trusting me enough to show up," Dumbledore paused and pushed his half moon glasses back up his nose. He glanced around at the fifteen people who were squished into his office, each looking at each other apprehensively. "Things are getting worse out there, and though I am reluctant to say it, the Ministry is not performing up to standard. They are simply unprepared, and too tied up in their policies and regulations to get anything done effectively. I am sure that by now you would have seen their latest policy on treating dark arts suspects, imprison first, question later. However, I doubt very much that many of the souls locked in Azkaban are actually guilty. So while the Ministry is locking up innocent people, the real Death Eaters are roaming free, destroying our homes and families. Forgive me Dorcas, I do not mean any disrespect to your department. I know that you have your hands tied."

He surveyed the faces in the room, and none of them seemed particularly surprised by his views, even Dorcas Meadows, the newly elected Head of Magical Law Enforcement, was nodding in agreement. "This brings me to why I have summoned you all here today. Look around, everyone one here is some of the best and the brightest witches and wizards and I have a proposition for you all." He noticed that a few sat up straighter, more alert than before. "I want to form an organisation that is will stand up and fight against Voldemort and his pure blood mania." Everyone flinched. "I want to destroy him, before he destroys our world."

"Here, here!" a scruffy voice called out from the back. Dumbledore smiled recognising it as the voice of his old school friend Elphias Doge.

"Sounds reasonable," Alastor Moody, the famed auror agreed and Caradoc Dearborn, Moody's protégé and DADA teacher followed suit.

"We're in," Gideon Prewett announced on behalf of himself and his brother, Fabian.

"Me too," squeaked Dedalus Diggle, dropping his violet top hat onto the floor in his excitement.

"I am always up for a challenge," Kingsley Shacklebolt, a junior auror said and his boss, Dorcas noded in agreement.

"Count me in," Marlene McKinnon, a witch high up in the ministry said.

"Of course I'm in," Edgar Bones replied as Benjy Fenwick and Emmeline Vance also agreed. Dumbledore looked at the two remaining people in the room who had yet to respond.

"You know that you need only call my name and I would be there for you, my brother," Aberforth Dumbledore replied. Dumbledore smiled and turned to his stern faced Transfiguration teacher.

"Are you sure about this Albus? These are people's lives!" Dumbledore smiled gently.

"Minerva it would be worse if we did nothing, of that I can assure you." The Transfiguration teacher nodded in resignation.

"Thank you everyone," Dumbledore said, with a smile. "I appreciate your support and henceforth we shall be known as the Order of the Phoenix." Right on cue, Fawkes appeared in a blaze of light settling himself down on the perch beside Dumbledore's desk. Aberforth started laughing.

"You always did have a flare for the dramatic!" he said with tears in the corner of his eye. Dumbledore smiled, but refrained from comment. "Unfortunately, I have school matters to attend to now. Please keep an ear out and I will send you a message about our next meeting as soon as I am able. Thank you all."

The majority of the guests lined up to use the fireplace in Dumbledore's office. Minerva and Caradoc, retreated to their staffrooms and Aberforth left the office whistling as he decided to walk back to the Hogs Head. Dumbledore watched them leave with a mixture of excitement and fear. Although they had all agreed to be a part of the Order, there were still many obstacles to overcome and Dumbledore knew that it was not going to be an easy process.

Elphias Doge, the last to leave, had just disappeared into the flames when a knock sounded on his office door.

"Enter," he said, sounding much more energetic than he felt. In walked James Potter and Severus Snape and Dumbledore knew that this was not going to be a good visit.

"Mr Potter, Mr Snape, what have you done now?"

* * *

_Several hours earlier..._

"I don't get it!" James fumed, his good mood at seeing Harry as a lion was short lived. The minute he turned back into a human, James' good mood had vanished. Leaving behind the angry James. "He's Remus' best friend. What was he thinking?" Harry would have tried to answer him, but James had been saying various variations of the same thing for the past ten minutes. Not once pausing to listen to Harry's opinion on Sirius' admittedly stupid behaviour. Instead Harry decided to keep his mouth shut and let James vent. They were headed towards the Whomping Willow, and the sun was setting behind the Forbidden Forest. The early winter chill seeped into his bones and Harry clutched his cloak tighter around his body as a shiver ran up Harry's spine. The only sounds Harry could hear was the wind rustling through the trees, James' incessant chatter and the occasional whimper from the direction of the Shrieking Shack.

They were still a fair way from the Whomping Willow, when a particularly loud scream pierced the air. Harry's head snapped up from the ground and he gazed in the direction of the shack.

"He doesn't like us to be there." It was the first time that James had said something that wasn't related to Sirius since they had left the dorm room.  
"What?"

"When he transforms, he gets touchy about us witnessing it," James said staring off in the direction of the Shrieking Shack. "It's a very painful process. He gets embarrassed, he thinks that we think he is weak when he cries."

"That's stupid," Harry said.

"Tell me about it. I don't think he's weak. He's one of the strongest people I know." They were almost at the Whomping Willow when Harry's heart stopped dead.

"What?" James asked, sensing Harry's panic, and Harry pointed towards their destination. The branches had just frozen, and they watched as a shadow disappeared into the base of the tree. Neither Potter stopped to think and both sprinted to the gap in the roots of the tree. A loud howl echoed around the mountains and Harry could only think one thing – what if they were too late? James forced his way down the hole first, Harry close behind him. It took several moments for Harry's eyes to adjust to the darkness and when they focused he saw that Snape was carefully moving down the tunnel towards the shack.

James had never been more scared in his life. He was standing within striking distance of Remus and he was still human. He gestured for Harry to stay behind him.

"Severus, Stop!" James called out and Snape's greasy head turned to look at them.

"What are you doing here, Potter? Trying to protect your furry friend? I know all about him and tonight I am going to prove it!" he sneered moving closer to the Shrieking Shack.

"You git!" James yelled back hesitant to move any further. The worst thing that could happen now would be for Remus to catch their scent. "I'm trying to save your life."

"A likely story," Snape spat, but James was no longer concentrating on Snape, his heart stopped as the sound of padded foot falls reached his ears.

"Snape, I have never been more serious in my life than I am right now. Get your arse out of here, right now," he hissed.

Several things happened in quick succession. They were in viewing distance to the door of the Shrieking Shack, still several hundred meters away, when the door burst open. Standing there, silhouetted in the dim light of the shack stood the unmistakable form of a werewolf, who proceeded to howl, ferociously causing the hairs on James' neck to stand up. The werewolf turned in their direction, as his sensitive nose caught whiff of the humans and large, gleaming yellow eyes turned towards them. Severus screamed, which, had the situation not been deadly, James would have found highly amusing. Reaching forward, James pulled Snape back towards the Whomping Willow as Harry raced towards the werewolf distracting the creature from James and Severus. James glanced over his shoulder to see Harry transform mere meters from the beast and he quickly turned back. The last thing he wanted was for Snape to see the lion.

James tried to block the sounds of clashing teeth, growls and snarls that echoed down the tunnel as he hauled a petrified Snape towards the tunnel entrance. They were not far from the exit when Snape's feet caught on a rock, a loud crack sounded and he collapsed to the ground crying out in pain. James quickly muttered a binding spell which seemed to ease some of the Slytherin's pain and hoisted Snape outside, ignoring Snape's gasps of pain every time his leg was jostled. Once they were out of the tunnel, James threw one of Snape's arms across his shoulders and he led them away from the Whomping Willow.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" he spat at Snape when they were a safe distance from the tree.

"Sirius told me," Snape began, but James cut him off.

"If Sirius told you to go jump off a cliff would you do it?" he asked and Snape's eyes turned cold. "Why did you go down there?" James asked, running a hand through his unruly hair.

"Not that it is any of your business, Potter," he spat, through gritted teeth. "But I wanted to prove that my theory was correct, and I did." James stared at him incredulously.

"So let me get this right," James said, as his body began to protest with the extra weight. "You thought that you had figured out that your classmate transformed into a werewolf, so the first thing you do is provoke his best friend into telling you how to get to him and then you actually, willingly put yourself in danger by placing yourself in the path of said werewolf." James sighed. "I should have left you down there. You really are as stupid as you look." Snape tensed and pushed James away from him.

"I am not stupid," he hissed, trying to walk on his bound leg, but nearly passed out in pain.

"Really?" James smirked, hoisting Snape back up onto his feet.

"Why do you care, Potter? You hate me. If you had left me there I would have died. Why didn't you leave me?"

"Because I couldn't do that to Remus," James said. "He's my best friend and I don't want a death hanging over his head. Besides while I admit, I feel a strong animosity towards you, I don't want you dead." Severus looked at him strangely. "If you were dead there would be no one to play pranks on." For a split second, James thought he saw a slight upwards curl of Snape's lips, but dismissed it as a trick of the light.

"What about Harry?" Severus asked.

"What about him?" James asked.

"He's killed people. He killed those two Death Eaters in Hogsmeade."

"If I could go back in time and prevent it I would, but I can't."

"Yet he did, didn't he?" James stopped abruptly and looked at Severus.

"What?"

"He's Lily's isn't he?" James stared at Severus. Perhaps Snape wasn't as stupid as he looks.

"I don't know," James began, but Snape interrupted him.  
"You don't have to say anything. I know. He's your son. He has your looks, your arrogance and your moodiness, but he has Lily's eyes and her heart."

"Severus, I swear to Merlin, if I hear one word of this around the school I will paralyse you and lock you in a room with Remus." Severus nodded. "Why would you keep our secret?"

"He saved my life too." These words accompanied by the serious look in Snape's eyes, were enough to pacify him for the moment.

"Thank you," James said to him as he helped the Slytherin into the Entrance Hall. "I appreciate your silence. Lily doesn't know." Snape scoffed.

"She knows more that she is letting on." James glanced at him. "She's far too smart for her own good." James couldn't help but notice a shadow of grief flash across his face. He was curious, but decided not to press him any further.

The rest of the walk to the hospital wing was in silence, no students roamed the halls, but James had no way of knowing what the time was. For all he knew they were out past curfew. Manoeuvring their way through the doors, James helped Snape to sit up on one of the beds, before yelling for the nurse. Madame Pomfrey looked hassled when she stepped out of her office and made her way towards Snape and James.

"What happened here?" she asked, gesturing to Snape's bound leg. Snape went to talk, but James beat him to it.

"I pulled a prank on him and he broke his leg. I didn't mean to break it I swear. I gave him a sweet that turns your legs to jelly, but he ate it near the top of the staircase on the second floor corridor on the left hand side. He fell down and I heard a snap. So I bound it quickly and brought him up here."

"Mr Potter, these pranks of yours are getting dangerous. I will have to inform the headmaster, you will be lucky to keep your position as head boy!" James tried to ignore the flash of triumph in Snape's eyes and told himself that he was only being nice to Snape to protect three of the people he loved the most; Lily, Harry and Remus.

Snape's leg was mended in a second and soon enough he and James were headed for the Headmaster's office. James relayed the 'story' and Snape confirmed it as what happened, though James thought that Dumbledore looked at them rather suspiciously. Thankfully, James was able to keep his head boy position, However, Dumbledore made it clear that this was his last warning. This time James definitely did not miss the look that crossed Snape's face, it was the familiar look of hatred. As punishment, James was to spend the next week cleaning out the filing cabinet of the new caretaker, Mr Filch, without the aid of magic. James groaned, his last detention with Filch had heard the old wheezer mutter on about chains and dungeons. He would much rather have polished the trophies or de-worm the school cabbages with Hagrid. At least Hagrid was good for a chat.

They were promptly dismissed from the headmaster's office and went their separate ways. James needed to get back to Remus and Harry. He could only hope that things had settled down once he and Snape had disappeared.

* * *

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Once he could no longer smell James and Snape, the werewolf seemed to calm down. However, with the distraction of the human's gone, the werewolf's attention shifted to Harry. He sniffed him for several minutes and Harry forced himself to remain perfectly still. The fighting with the werewolf had not left him untouched. He was heavily bruised, his right cheek bone had been hit hard and he had possibly broken a hand, and several deep scratches covered his body but thankfully no marks from the werewolf himself. He wasn't too sure how the scratch of a werewolf would affect an animagus. Once the excitement of a new playmate, died down the werewolf seemed eager to get outside, but Harry didn't know if he could control the werewolf by himself, so he ushered him back towards the shrieking shack where he managed to initiate a bizarre game of hide and seek.

It felt like an eternity before the large stag appeared, Harry gasped when he saw the magnificence of his father. Everyone was right, his patronus did look eerily like James. The werewolf, who had been getting restless was thrilled when his familiar playmate arrived, but apparently, James, like Harry, didn't think it was best to go for a run tonight and barred the door, earning a growl from the werewolf. Harry getting slightly fed up with the werewolf's attitude, let out an almighty roar, and the werewolf obediently sat, silently on the floor. Harry caught the stag looking at him oddly and Harry shrugged. He could only assume that they were right when they said that the lion was the king of the animal kingdom.

The night seemed to drag on forever. They were playing games to pass the time. Or they weren't so much games as they were watch the werewolf try and destroy as much furniture as he could in his attempts to chase the lion and stag around the house. James was the slowest as his huge antlers presented problems every time he tried to go through a door. Harry, however, was the smallest and the most spritely, but his paw was in agony by the end of the night. Mostly the werewolf behaved, but whenever the werewolf became too unruly, Harry would roar and he would fall back in submission. Overall it wasn't the fun and games that the Sirius and Remus of his time told him about, but Harry still had a good time. Shortly before dawn, James gestured towards the door with his head and Harry took one last look at the sleeping werewolf and padded out of the doorway and through the tunnel with James following closely behind. He waited until James was safely out of the way of the tree branches before he tapped the knot with his nose and sprinted out from underneath the branches without a scratch; a feat that he would never have achieved as a human.

Once safely away from the menacing tree's branches, Harry transformed.

"Well that was an interesting night," James said as he watched as rays of light slowly stretched above the sky. "You look dreadful. Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Harry grunted, cradling his hand. It was definitely broken.

"You should see the nurse," James said, the concern evident in his voice.

"And say what?" Harry asked. "Hi Madame Pomfrey. I know I was only in here yesterday afternoon, but you see last night I turned into a lion and spent the night with an energetic werewolf who was on the verge of attacking two people one of whom was my father. So I tried to stop him and in his eagerness he picked me up and threw me to the ground, and I think I broke my hand. Could you please take a look at it?"

"Well not if you are going to say it like that," James said, rolling his eyes.

"I will wait at least until after breakfast."

"Fine, but don't complain to me when it hurts."

"Fine I won't," Harry said sticking his tongue out at his father who laughed at him. "What happened with Snape?" Harry asked. James' smile faded and he let out a sigh.

"Git broke his leg. I took him to the hospital wing and made up some story about a prank gone wrong. I have detention with Filch for a week."

"Urgh! Filch!" Harry grunted.

"I agree, but it was better than losing my badge. We had better get back before they catch us out of bed. Then I really will lose my badge," James said.

Clutching his aching hand, Harry and James hurried through the empty halls and climbed into the Gryffindor common room, to find Ginny curled up fast asleep in the chair by the fire. She looked like an angel, the way the rising sun cast its rays around her head, reflecting the red in her hair. Harry's breath caught in his throat as she began to stir and her dark brown eyes met his. Harry felt James' hand on the shoulder, but he registered nothing but the girl in front of him. He was captivated by her very prescence. He felt a pull so strong, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

She slowly got up from the chair and closed the distance between them. Gently she took his broken hand in hers and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. When she spoke, her voice was soft and tender. The pain in his hand disappeared and she gently placed it by his side. Gently she stroked his cheek and his felt that pain vanish too. She continued to mutter quiet spells, running her soft, delicate hands over his body and slowly he felt his various aches and pains disappear. He had yet to say anything to her as he was captivated by the feel of her warm hands and the tenderness that she showed him, not to mention the fact that she looked beautiful even though she had spent the night on a chair in the common room. When she finished, she took his hands in hers and drew his attention back to her. How had he been so blind? How could he ever have thought that he could do this without her? She healed his wounds. She kept him steady. She made him stronger.

He acted without thought, without consideration for the consequences. There was nothing more he wanted in his life at that moment than Ginny Weasley. So he reached out and grabbed her, fusing their lips together in a warm and passionate kiss. He was like a man who had travelled across the desert looking for water and stumbled upon an oasis. That's what Ginny was, his oasis in the harsh desert of his life. He drank her in greedily, pulling her body closer to him, moaning at the softness of her lips and the silkiness of her skin. They had kissed before, but it had never been like this. Harry would be happy if her could just spend the rest of eternity, standing there kissing Ginny.

Unfortunately, biology had other plans, and the need for oxygen became too much to bear. As soon as they separated, Harry moved his lips to her porcelain skin, as his lips caressed her jaw and neck. Her hands were buried deep in his hair pushing him closer to her, small gasps escaping her bruised lips. She smelt of flowers and something that was uniquely Ginny and Harry was in heaven. His lips seeked out hers again and this kiss was much softer, much more loving than the first. He heard the first sounds of movement on the floors above him and reluctantly he pulled away from her, resting his forehead against hers.

"I was such a fool to think that I could do any of this without you," he clasped her head between his hands. "You knitted my bones back together, stitched my skin back together and you sewed our souls together. I am yours for as long as you will have me," he whispered, staring deep into her watery eyes.

"Then I'll have you forever," she whispered back, leaning in and kissing him once more. His eyes filled with unshed tears, and laughed as he wiped away the tears that escaped Ginny's eyes.

"I love you." It was spoken quietly, but there emotion was clear.

"I love you, too."

* * *

They were so caught up in each other, that neither Harry nor Ginny noticed the third party present in the room, quietly observing them.

'Well,' he thought as he watched the growing bright light surround the couple. 'That was unexpected.' He disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the newly formed couple to enjoy their moment in peace.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading. Liz


	21. Chapter 21

Title: Harry Potter and the Keeper of the Phoenix

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG -13 (T)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its plot and characters, belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: HPGW, RWHG, RLNT & JPLE The one thing he needs, is the one thing he could never have… until now. (Post HBP – Contains Spoilers) WIP

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"He collapsed, in the middle of the classroom Dumbledore! I have seen the Cruciatus curse, and Mr James was certainly under its influence." Caradoc Dearborn's voice carried through the heavy door to Professor Dumbledore's office. Harry stood on the other side, his fist poised and ready to knock on the door. When he heard his name, he stopped and leaned in closer, trying to hear their conversation better.

"I do not doubt your story Caradoc. In fact, I know it to be true." Dumbledore's voice was as clam as ever, and Harry pictured him relaxing in his chair, watching Professor Dearborn pace in front of his desk.

"Then why won't you tell me what is going on? I am part of the order am I not?" Harry gasped, Dumbledore had formed the Order.

"Of course you are," Dumbledore replied.

"This isn't the first time that I have come to you with concerns about this kid. I stood here in this office a couple of months ago and I told you that this seventeen year old boy knew too much about the Dark Arts, now he is collapsing in my classroom after being under the Cruciatus curse? Are you positive that he is not working for the Dark Lord."

"Caradoc, I remember that conversation and I also remember you telling me that when you confronted Mr James he informed you that he was not a Death Eater."

"Yes, but,"

"In fact," Dumbledore interrupted him. "He said that he was trying to protect himself from the Dark Lord."

"Yes, but,"

"And you in fact saw evidence of this, when he was attacked in your classroom, did you not?"

"Yes, but,"

"Professor Dearborn, I know that as an auror, you find it difficult to place trust in people. I have seen more than enough evidence to prove that Harry is not a spy for the Dark Lord. If anything he may be our saviour. So I ask that even if you cannot trust him, please trust me."

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore," Professor Dearborn replied.

"Thank you Caradoc. Now, I ask that you remain on alert. I believe that I may have some developments that I need to discuss with the order."

"Yes, sir," Professor Dearborn said.

Harry barely managed to jump out of the way, when the door opened and there stood his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The teacher looked almost guiltily at him, before moving passed him in a hurry.

"Professor?" Harry called out for him. There was no use in pretending that he hadn't been listening at the door, when it was obvious to all. Professor Dearborn stopped halfway down the first curve of the stairs. "I just wanted you to know that I would have been suspicious of me if I was in your shoes. I am not offended, you are just doing your job."

"I want to trust you, but I just need some explanations," he said facing Harry.

"I know, and I want to give them too you, but I just need to know if I can trust you." Professor Dearborn smiled at him.

"Then we are in quite the conundrum, are we not?"

"I believe we are," Harry replied.

"I will prove myself to you, sometime soon."

"I have no doubt that you will, Professor. As will I," Harry replied, watching his teacher continue on his way down the stairs. When the sounds of the Professor's shoes could no longer be heard on the flagstone floors, Harry turned and entered Dumbledore's office.

"Focus Harry, I want you to visualise your mind as a room. There are five doors leading off of this room. Can you see it?" Dumbledore asked, walking around his office as Harry stood in the middle, his eyes closed a look of pure concentration on his face. Harry nodded his head. "Good, excellent. Now, I want you to visualise closing each door. Slowly now, not too fast."

The last couple of weeks had flown by thanks to a full schedule of Occlumency lessons, NEWTs homework, Quidditch practice and teaching the DA, not to mention finding time to sneak off to the room of requirement for alone time with Ginny. In all his life, Harry had never felt so complete. He had the girl of his dreams, his father and mother, not to mention his god father, uncle and mentor. The only things missing were Hermione, Ron and the Weasley's and then his life would be perfect. Well, as perfect as it could be with the ever present threat looming over his head. But thanks to the Occlumency lessons, Harry's sleep was no longer disturbed by Voldemort's atrocities.

This development both pleased and troubled him. While he was ecstatic that he was no longer collapsing in class and waking up screaming, he could no longer forewarn Dumbledore about the impending attacks. When he had voiced his concerns to Dumbledore, the aging wizard assured him that he had a new spy network set up that was almost as good as Harry's warnings. Though this comforted Harry somewhat, the word 'almost' did play on his mind.

Voldemort's attacks had increased in both number and ferocity in the last couple of weeks. Several muggle villages had been completely destroyed, as well as a couple of wizarding ones. Despite the obvious signs of an impending war, the Ministry was still issuing statements via the Daily Prophet, reassuring the magical community that the Dark Lord was close to being apprehended. When Harry had read this part out loud, Ginny snorted remarking that 'each time they say that they become less credible'.

"That's it Harry!" Dumbledore said, ceasing his attempts to penetrate Harry's mind. It was Harry's last Occlumency lesson before the holidays. He had made a large amount of progress, to which Harry attributed to a teacher who actually cared about him. Dumbledore stepped forward and clasped Harry's shoulder with his thin, bony hand.

"I am very proud of you Harry," he said, the twinkle shining in his eye. "You truly are a remarkable young wizard." Reaching inside his robes, he withdrew a large block of Honeyduke's finest chocolate from one of his many pockets and proceeded to break a piece off and held it out to Harry.

"Care for some chocolate Harry?" he asked. "It will help return your strength."

"Yes please," Harry said, taking the offered chocolate and biting into it, savouring the warmth that seemed to fill his body. "Thanks."

"I hear that you are travelling to Mr Potter's parents house for the holidays."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, taking a seat in the overstuffed armchair in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"That will be a wondrous experience for you Harry. Mr and Mrs Potter are both wonderful people and good friends of mine." Harry smiled, taking another bite of the piece of chocolate in his hand. "I advise you not to inform them of you true parentage, though I imagine that your appearance will have them quite perplexed."

"Sir?" Harry spoke up, needing to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind.

"Yes, my boy," Dumbledore answered.

"What happens if people find out? I mean Dad already knows... and I have a feeling that Remus and Mum have their suspicions. Sirius is completely oblivious, but once the others find out he won't be in the dark too much longer." Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"I too, have held the same concern. However, I do not think it is wise for you to worry. I have no doubt that my future self would have found a way to alleviate this problem, otherwise he would not have sent you back." Seeing the look of doubtfulness on his face, Dumbledore chuckled. "Have faith Harry, I may look like an old codger, but I am quite intelligent." Harry smiled at the comment, coming from anyone else it would have seemed arrogant, but for Dumbledore it was a simple truth. He was intelligent. "That said, I still ask that you keep this as quiet as possible. The fewer who know the better."

"Of course sir."

Harry remembered all of the times that he had been mad at Dumbledore and those times that he had felt betrayed. Despite those concerns, he knew that Dumbledore had always had his best interests at heart, and he always knew that Dumbledore would come through for him. Even in death, he proved that to be true. Harry stood up, and brushed the dust off of his trousers.

"Sir, I want you to remember something," he said, looking at the old wizard in front of him. "In spite of everything that has happened and will happen, I want you to know that I always have faith in you." Dumbledore eyes glistened, and a smile lit up his face.

"Thank you my boy," the wizard replied. "You have no idea what that means to me."

"I think I do," Harry replied, and the old wizard looked at him curiously. "You've always had faith in me too." It took saying it out loud for Harry to know it to be true.

For the first time he felt that he had a fighting chance in this battle. If the greatest wizard of all time had the faith that he could complete his destined mission, then who was Harry to argue with him. A smile lit up Harry's face as the adrenaline began to course through his veins. "Thank you," Harry said, as he bounded out of the office, the sound of Dumbledore chuckling at his antics echoing down the stairs matched his own as he ran towards the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Ginny was packing her trunk, for the trip to the Potters when she heard Harry's laughter and jumped in fright. As she looked around the room in alarm, she wondered how on earth he had managed to get past the alarms on the girls staircase. When she was sure that Harry wasn't in the room with her, she ran down the stairs to the common room.

"Lily? Have you seen Harry?" she asked, and the red-head seemed startled at her sudden arrival.

"Not since dinner, why? Didn't he have that meeting with Professor McGonagall?" It had been their cover for the Occlumency lessons. While James, Remus, Sirius and Lily knew the truth, they needed an excuse for Harry to be away so often. Professor McGonagall had offered her services as his cover, saying that she was tutoring Harry in Transfiguration. Surprisingly many people bought the excuse, while Harry was nowhere near the level of his father, he was far from useless thanks to McGonagall's lessons over the summer.

"Yes, but I could have sworn I heard his voice, up in the dormitory."

"Ginny, Harry wouldn't have been up there, the sensors would have gone off," Lily said, smiling at the younger girl. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I know that." Lily looked around the common room.

"Remus?" she called out, and the werewolf looked up from the book he had his nose buried in. "Have you seen Harry?" He shook his head.

"I could have sworn..." Ginny trailed off as the portrait swung open and in climbed an exuberant Harry.

"Gin?" he called out, scanning the room for her. "Ginny!" he ran over to her and gathered her up in a hug and swung her around in a circle.

"Harry!" she called out, giggling at his excitement.

"I can do it Ginny, I know I can!" she didn't have to ask what he meant.

Thousands of scenarios were running through his mind and all of them ended with Harry standing while Voldemort was nothing more than a pile of ashes. She started to laugh, Harry's excitement was infectious. She felt the constant fear that had occupied her heart since she had first learnt of Harry's battle with Voldemort in his first year, disappear. Harry could do this, there was nothing stopping him.

They had started to make a spectacle of themselves, and when Ginny warned Harry of this, he shrugged it off. Soon James and Sirius had returned from their respective detentions and they too joined in the celebration, though neither of them knew what they were celebrating. For James and Sirius never needed a reason to celebrate.

The tension between the two best friends had eased somewhat over the past couple of weeks. James had made Sirius confess to Remus what he had done. Remus was visibly upset with Sirius's actions and for the first time in living memory they saw Remus mad. For Harry it seemed eerily familiar to the dressing down he got from adult Remus when he was caught wandering the halls with the Marauder's Map. Sirius seemed so thoroughly remorseful that Remus forgave him. However, James wasn't so quick to forgive and forget.

It was only when Lily mentioned that she needed to go pack for the train tomorrow that the celebrations died down. James and Sirius hadn't even started to pack, so they quickly disappeared up the stairs followed by Remus. Lily too bid Harry and Ginny goodnight and disappeared up the girl's staircase.

"Harry, can I talk to you?" Ginny asked, remembering the laughter that she had heard earlier.

"Sure," Harry replied, a frown forming on his face. Ginny took his hand and lead him out of the portrait and into the nearest empty classroom.

"I heard you laughing," she said looking up into his eyes. "In my head, while I was in my dorm packing."

"It's getting stronger?" he asked, referring to the mental connection that they seem to have.

"I think so," Ginny replied. "Every time you touch me, I can hear your thoughts now. It used to just be little bits and pieces, but now it's all of the time."

"Are you scared?" he asked. She felt a flood of warmth run through her at Harry's protectiveness. He knew that she had heard voices in her head before and the last time it had been Voldemort.

"Surprisingly, no. I feel safer with your voice in my head. I feel whole." Harry smiled and leaned in and kissed her. Ginny's heart burst with joy as it always did when he kissed her. She loved him so much, that it physically hurt her when he wasn't with her. Harry suddenly pulled back, and to say that she was more than startled would be an understatement. She was about to protest when she saw the wide grin cross his face.

"I love you too, Gin Gin," he whispered, leaning in and kissing her again.

"You can hear me?" Harry nodded.

"Only when I am touching you."

"So it's two ways?" Ginny asked rhetorically. The concept was still a little new. She hadn't known anyone who could communicate telepathically before. Then again Harry was a unique wizard, it really should not have surprised her.

"Ginny!" he whined and she giggled.

"Sorry Harry, I am not used to having someone in my head."

"This is crazy," he said, pulling her in for a kiss. 'And amazing' he thought. "Should we tell someone?" Ginny contemplated it for a few seconds. She didn't want to share it yet. She wanted to see where it would go first.

"Not yet," she said, drawing him in for one last kiss. "Let's just keep it between us for the moment."

"Ok," Harry agreed.

"I have to go finish packing," Ginny said, and Harry grumbled that he hadn't even started. Taking Harry's hand, Ginny led him back to the common room. "Well, then you have no time to waste. You can't meet your Grandparents with no clothes to wear!"

* * *

The following day dawned bright and clear. A soft, white layer of snow blanketed the ground and the halls of Hogwarts were crowded with hundreds of students trying to make their way down to the carriages. Harry and Ginny, with their trunks beside them sat at the end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall waiting for James, Sirius, Remus and Lily to meet them. The castle had been decorated immaculately, and Harry felt it strange that no one would be here to see it. Everyone was going home for the holidays.

Ginny sat silently beside him, just holding his hand. He liked the fact that they didn't need to talk, despite the fact that she could hear every thought that ran through his mind and he would get snippets of hers. Even when their minds were silent, neither Harry nor Ginny seemed to feel the need to fill it with useless conversation. They watched student after student pass by the doors of the Great Hall, and Harry was beginning to wonder what was taking the Marauders and Lily so long when a loud noise interrupted the steady din.

Harry looked at Ginny who just rolled her eyes and, with their trunks in tow, they both went out to inspect the commotion in the entrance way. Standing at the top of the staircase was a choir made out of ten suits of armour, five ghosts and two very cheery maurauders, belting out their version of Jingle Bells. It was horrendous and offensive to the ears of people everywhere. Remus and Lily stood off to the side with their hands over their ears, laughing at James and Sirius' attempts at singing while wearing robes that had been transfigured to look like Father Christmas' outfit, and had even gone to the lengths of growing long white beards.

When the commotion was over, there was fervent applause from the crowd, though Harry suspected that it had more to do with them being glad it was over, than from them liking the performance. With a number of bows and 'thank yous', the boys reversed the charm on the suits of armour and sent the back to their locations and wished the ghosts a 'Happy Christmas', before joining Ginny and Harry at the bottom of the stairs.

"Well?" James asked, a large grin plastered on his face. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was appalling!" The smile on James and Sirius faces fell and Ginny continued. "You butchered one of my favourite Christmas songs! It was dreadful! I am going to have to clean my ears out with Bulbotuber Pus to get the sound out of my head." Harry, Lily and Remus chuckled silently as Ginny continued in much the same manner all the way to the carriages.

"Blimey Ginny, you could have just said you didn't like it," Sirius said, climbing into the waiting carriage and holding out a hand to Ginny, who wore a cheeky grin on her face.

"I could have, but where would the fun have been in that?"

* * *

The rest of the carriage ride was spent discussing the upcoming holidays. Remus was going home for a day or two before heading to the Potter's for Christmas, but Lily was spending the holidays with her family. Her sister, Petunia, had made the trip home from university for the holidays, with her new boyfriend, and Lily looked forward to meeting him. Harry fought himself from making a face at the mention of his Aunt. Ginny apparently had a lot to say on the subject of his upbringing, but thankfully she managed to stop herself from saying anything outloud. Though, Harry had to stop himself from laughing at the image of Aunt Petunia covered in Bat Bogeys.

The train ride home was mostly uneventful. James and Lily periodically patrolled the corridor, only needing to stop one small fight between first years. Otherwise the students were in a pretty good mood, the excitement of the holidays lifted everyone's spirits after a dark couple of months. Harry, Ginny, Remus and Sirius played exploding snap and wizard's chess, which Harry was still abysmal at even with Ginny's silent help.

About an hour from London, Ginny fell asleep with her head on Harry's shoulder. The Maurauders had taken off to find the seventh-year Ravenclaw, Georgiana Isis, to settle a bet between James and Sirius. Harry wasn't quite sure of the details, but knew it involved Sirius, Georgiana and the lake monster. To be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure that he wanted to know any more. With the boys gone it was just Harry, Lily and Ginny in the compartment.

"You really love her don't you?" Lily asked him.

"More than anything," Harry whispered. Lily smiled, but it didn't quite seem right.

"She's lucky to have you."

"No," Harry said, running his fingers through Ginny's long hair. "I'm the lucky one." Lily sighed and looked away, Harry swore he saw tears in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked his mother. She turned back to face him and Harry saw the tears that ran down her face.

"You look at her like she is a priceless treasure, and you treat her like a princess. You make her feel safe, she relaxes when you walk into a room," she paused to compose herself and wiped some tears away. "I am jealous of her. I know James likes me, but I just don't know if I am more to him than just a conquest."

Harry considered her words for a moment before responding.

"Ginny and I have been to hell and back together. We've faced death together on more than one occasion. Our lives have been intertwined with each others for so long that she feels like a part of me." Harry turned his eyes from the girl in his arms to his mother. "Lily, James loves you more than anything in the world. You have to see it from his point of view. He has spent the better part of seven years chasing after you. Now that he finally has you, he is terrified that you will leave him, so he holds back. If you just show him that you are in this for the long haul, then he will shower you with affection."

"Really?" Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry thought that it was hilarious that he was giving his mother advice on her love life with his father.

"I know, without a doubt, that you are more than just a conquest to James. If he could, he would marry you tomorrow."

Lily was about to respond, when the door to the compartment burst open and in walked the boys laughing at something Sirius had apparently done, and she sank back into the cushions of the seat a small smile gracing her face.

"Who won?" Harry asked, turning his attention away from his blushing mother.

"James," Sirius muttered, collapsing on the seat next to Ginny, jolting her from her sleep.

"Watch it!" Harry said, as Ginny sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry," Sirius mumbled.

"Aw, common Sirius, don't be a grumble bum. She didn't say she never would, just that you would have to be the last person on the planet." Sirius made a face and James just laughed harder.

"I'm sorry Sirius," Lily said, patting his knee gently. "If you want my honest opinion, she is a stuck up snob who is far below your standards." Sirius stared at Lily.

"That is the nicest thing that you have ever said to me." Lily pulled away and sat back in her seat.

"Yes, well don't get used to it." James kissed her cheek and Sirius guffawed.

"I knew you liked me!" he cheered, jumping up and down in his seat until Ginny, who was tired and frustrated, grabbed a hold of his shirt collar and forced him to take a seat.

"Sit still or I will curse you until you can't remember your name."

"Merlin's beard Ginny, I was just having fun!" he exclaimed.

"Sirius, you don't ever wake a sleeping Ginny," Harry said, amused at his godfather's predicament. If looks could kill Sirius would be dead five times over.

In a lucky break for Sirius, the train began to slow, signalling their arrival at King's Cross. Harry felt his stomach flutter. He was about to meet his grandparents for the first time. Nervously, he began to flatten his hair. Ginny just giggled beside him.

"It will never work," she warned and Harry just rolled his eyes at her.

"You'll be fine," James whispered, when he was sure no one was paying attention. "They are your grandparents, they have to love you."

"Yeah, but they don't know that!" One look at James' face and Harry knew otherwise.

"James!" he yelled, attracting the attention of the others.

"What? They're persuasive. I couldn't help it." James held his arms up in surrender. Harry glared at him, and wondered if he would even have a future to go back to.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"Nothing, James is just being his usual frustrating self," Harry replied, as they made their way out of the compartment and into the corridor.

"You love me," James replied slinging his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Only because I have to," Harry mumbled, ignoring James' chortling laughter and was grateful when he moved ahead to catch up to Lily. Ginny slipped her hand into his and immediately he felt himself calm down. He squeezed her hand in a silent sign of thanks.

As they stepped out onto the platform, Harry's breath caught in his throat. The resemblance was almost uncanny. There standing before him was his heart's desire. The vision that he saw in the Mirror of Erised, had never disappeared from his mind. It was the one thing that he had wanted more than anything in the world: to be surrounded by his family.

He let his gaze travel from James to what must be his parents. James was the spitting image of his father, who was immaculately dressed in a dark suit complete with bowler hat. Mrs Potter's soft red hair, fell in waves past her shoulders, her face was round and friendly. The dark grey dress and matching jacket she wore allowed her to blend in with the muggles around her. Harry felt a little jealous as they greeted James, Sirius and Remus with big hugs.

Next to them were the Evans'. Mr Evan's was tall, but had the same lanky build as Harry, his face lit up with joy as he watched his daughter tell him about her semester. Mrs Evans looked like an older Lily only with dark brown hair, her piercing green eyes trained on James, as Lily pulled him over to meet her parents.

Harry was brought out of his observation, when he felt Lily take his arm.

"Mum, Dad, this is Harry and Ginny," she said beaming at them. "They're the new friends that I was telling you about."

"It's nice to finally meet you Harry and you too Ginny," Mrs Evans said embracing them both in a hug. "I feel like I know you already, Lily writes about you all the time!" Lily's cheeks inflamed red.

"Yes, I too am pleased to meet you both," Mr Evans said, settling for a handshake.

"It's lovely to meet you both, Mr and Mrs Evans," Ginny said elbowing Harry in the side.

"Yes, it's brilliant," Harry added, lamely.

"We too have heard much about both of you," Mrs Potter spoke up, and looked almost in tears as she pulled both Harry and Ginny in for a hug. "And of course, it is wonderful to meet you Lily. I must say it is about time you said yes. If James had to spend another holiday period talking about you, I think I would have gone insane." Lily blushed and accepted Mrs Potter's hug with a huge smile on her face.

"It is wonderful to meet you all," Mr Potter said, smiling at them affectionately.

"I must say, Harry. You bear a striking resemblance to young Mr Potter, are you at all related." James flung his arm around Harry and laughed.

"No, Mr and Mrs Evans, I'm afraid not. You always hear that everyone has a doppelganger, but you never expect to meet them. I guess we are both just lucky," he said, ruffling Harry's hair. Harry was sure by the looks on their faces that they didn't believe him, but he was thankful when they didn't press it any further.

"Well we best be off. Petunia and Vernon are due to arrive at four so we can't be late," Mr Evans said, picking up Lily's trunk. "Best to say goodbye to your friends, Lily." Lily hugged each of them in turn, and kissed James goodbye.

"I'll miss you," James said, resting his forehead against hers.

"We'll only be separated a couple of weeks," she laughed.

"I know, but it is entirely too long." Lily leaned up and kissed him again.

"I will see what I can do," she said with a wink and after one more wave, she disappeared.

Harry watched as James' shoulders hunched. Sirius slipped his arm around James' shoulders.

"Don't worry about it mate. She'll be back before you know it."

"But two whole weeks!" James cried.

"You survived six and a half years before that, you'll be fine. Besides, I have something planned that is going to keep you occupied for the whole two weeks," James just looked warily at him.

"What?" he asked, looking at Remus who just shrugged his shoulders.

"If I tell you now it won't be a surprise," Sirius said. James looked into his eyes and laughed.

"You haven't thought of anything yet have you," James surmised laughing.

"I have too!" Sirius replied indignantly.

"Come on everyone, gather your things. We must be going," Mr Potter said, chuckling at James and Sirius' bickering.

"You have not!" James replied, picking up his trunk and following his father out towards the exit.

"I have too, I'm just not telling you!" Remus rolled his eyes and whispered to Ginny and Harry.

"It is going to be an interesting two weeks." Harry nodded in agreement, chuckling as James and Sirius continued bickering all the way to the car.


End file.
